Planning Approval Rate in Eastleigh
Eastleigh is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 89.2% of applications and decides 93.1% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #143 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Eastleigh, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Eastleigh Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 536 decisions (478 granted, 58 refused).
How Eastleigh compares
| Eastleigh | 89.2% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Eastleigh is 2.2 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Eastleigh?
Eastleigh is a little more approving than the median English authority, granting 89.2% of the applications it decides (rank 143rd of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 89.2% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 32nd most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are uncommon here: 58 of its 536 decisions were refusals (10.8%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 80% of major developments approved versus 91.9% of householder and other small-scale work, from 20 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 93.1% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 536 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its South East neighbours it sits between Swale (89.5%, more approving) and Thanet (88.9%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Eastleigh with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Eastleigh
Live planning activity in Eastleigh Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 19 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Eastleigh Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Eastleigh Borough Council
Recent applications in Eastleigh Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Eastleigh page.
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Planning permission in Eastleigh: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Eastleigh?
On the latest official figures Eastleigh is close to the England average and a little more approving than the median English authority, approving 89.2% of the 536 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Eastleigh approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 89.2% approved and 10.8% refused — 478 granted and 58 refused of 536 decisions, with major schemes approved at 80% and householder and other work at 91.9%.
How quickly does Eastleigh decide planning applications?
On timing Eastleigh is a little faster than average: 93.1% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Eastleigh stricter than nearby councils?
Eastleigh's 89.2% approval rate makes it the 32nd most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Swale approves 89.5% and Thanet 88.9%.
Can I use Eastleigh's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Eastleigh 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 Eastleigh 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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