Planning Approval Rate in Elmbridge
Elmbridge is markedly stricter than the typical English council for planning permission: it approves 76.3% of applications and decides 92.5% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #295 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Elmbridge, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Elmbridge Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,327 decisions (1,013 granted, 314 refused).
How Elmbridge compares
| Elmbridge | 76.3% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Elmbridge is 10.7 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Elmbridge?
Elmbridge is among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, granting 76.3% of the applications it decides (rank 295th of 310). That puts it markedly stricter than the typical English council — 76.3% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 62nd most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 314 of its 1,327 decisions were refusals (23.7%). On the split by scale it is far tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 61.3% of major developments approved versus 77.6% of householder and other small-scale work, from 31 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 92.5% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on one of the heavier caseloads of 1,327 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 Slough (77.1%, more approving) and Mole Valley (73%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Elmbridge with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Elmbridge
Live planning activity in Elmbridge Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 7 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Elmbridge Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Elmbridge Borough Council
Recent applications in Elmbridge Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Elmbridge page.
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Planning permission in Elmbridge: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Elmbridge?
On the latest official figures Elmbridge is markedly stricter than the typical English council and among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, approving 76.3% of the 1,327 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Elmbridge approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 76.3% approved and 23.7% refused — 1,013 granted and 314 refused of 1,327 decisions, with major schemes approved at 61.3% and householder and other work at 77.6%.
How quickly does Elmbridge decide planning applications?
On timing Elmbridge is about average on speed: 92.5% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Elmbridge stricter than nearby councils?
Elmbridge's 76.3% approval rate makes it the 62nd most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Slough approves 77.1% and Mole Valley 73%.
Can I use Elmbridge's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Elmbridge 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 Elmbridge 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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