Planning Approval Rate in Dudley
Dudley is somewhat stricter than the England average for planning permission: it approves 83.2% of applications and decides 95.1% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #249 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Dudley, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 740 decisions (616 granted, 124 refused).
How Dudley compares
| Dudley | 83.2% |
| West Midlands average | 87.8% |
| England average | 87% |
Dudley is 3.8 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Dudley?
Dudley is in the stricter third of English authorities, granting 83.2% of the applications it decides (rank 249th of 310). That puts it somewhat stricter than the England average — 83.2% approved against an England average of 87%. Within West Midlands it is the 26th most approving of 30 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.8%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 124 of its 740 decisions were refusals (16.8%). On the split by scale it is far tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 66.7% of major developments approved versus 86.4% of householder and other small-scale work, from 12 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 95.1% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 740 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its West Midlands neighbours it sits between Worcester (85.5%, more approving) and Malvern Hills (82.8%, stricter). For context in West Midlands, Redditch approves the most (96.2%) and Lichfield the least (79.7%).
Compare Dudley with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in West Midlands. See the full West Midlands league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Dudley
Live planning activity in Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 17 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
Recent applications in Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Dudley page.
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Planning permission in Dudley: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Dudley?
On the latest official figures Dudley is somewhat stricter than the England average and in the stricter third of English authorities, approving 83.2% of the 740 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Dudley approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 83.2% approved and 16.8% refused — 616 granted and 124 refused of 740 decisions, with major schemes approved at 66.7% and householder and other work at 86.4%.
How quickly does Dudley decide planning applications?
On timing Dudley is a little faster than average: 95.1% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Dudley stricter than nearby councils?
Dudley's 83.2% approval rate makes it the 26th most approving of 30 authorities in West Midlands, against a 87.8% regional average. Neighbouring Worcester approves 85.5% and Malvern Hills 82.8%.
Can I use Dudley's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Dudley 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 Dudley Metropolitan Borough 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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