Planning Approval Rate in Dorset
Dorset is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 90.7% of applications and decides 91.4% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #113 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Dorset, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Dorset Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 2,785 decisions (2,527 granted, 258 refused).
How Dorset compares
| Dorset | 90.7% |
| South West average | 89.5% |
| England average | 87% |
Dorset is 3.7 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Dorset?
Dorset is a little more approving than the median English authority, granting 90.7% of the applications it decides (rank 113th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 90.7% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South West it is the 10th most approving of 27 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 89.5%. Refusals are uncommon here: 258 of its 2,785 decisions were refusals (9.3%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 86.5% of major developments approved versus 93.3% of householder and other small-scale work, from 111 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 91.4% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on one of the heavier caseloads of 2,785 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its South West neighbours it sits between Isles of Scilly (91.4%, more approving) and Swindon (89.2%, stricter). For context in South West, Cheltenham approves the most (96.5%) and Gloucester the least (80.5%).
Compare Dorset with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South West. See the full South West league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Dorset
Live planning activity in Dorset Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 11 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Dorset Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Dorset Council
Recent applications in Dorset Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Dorset page.
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Planning permission in Dorset: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Dorset?
On the latest official figures Dorset is somewhat more approving than the England average and a little more approving than the median English authority, approving 90.7% of the 2,785 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Dorset approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 90.7% approved and 9.3% refused — 2,527 granted and 258 refused of 2,785 decisions, with major schemes approved at 86.5% and householder and other work at 93.3%.
How quickly does Dorset decide planning applications?
On timing Dorset is about average on speed: 91.4% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Dorset stricter than nearby councils?
Dorset's 90.7% approval rate makes it the 10th most approving of 27 authorities in South West, against a 89.5% regional average. Neighbouring Isles of Scilly approves 91.4% and Swindon 89.2%.
Can I use Dorset's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Dorset decided, not a prediction for any individual application; your outcome depends on the site, the proposal, local planning policy and any objections.
Methodology & limits
Approval, refusal and in-time rates come from the government's official PS2 planning application statistics (Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government), covering 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. This dataset is England-only and published annually, so it lags live activity. Live figures are the applications PlanWatch has collected for Dorset Council and are not a complete council register. Refusal reasons and delegated-vs-committee splits are not published in this data.
This is a historic average, not a prediction. It cannot tell you whether your application will be approved — that depends on your site, proposal, local policy and any objections.
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