Planning Approval Rate in Exeter
Exeter is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 85.2% of applications and decides 85.5% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #225 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Exeter, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Exeter City Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 559 decisions (476 granted, 83 refused).
How Exeter compares
| Exeter | 85.2% |
| South West average | 89.5% |
| England average | 87% |
Exeter is 1.8 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Exeter?
Exeter is in the stricter third of English authorities, granting 85.2% of the applications it decides (rank 225th of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 85.2% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South West it is the 22nd most approving of 27 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 89.5%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 83 of its 559 decisions were refusals (14.8%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 80% of major developments approved versus 86.1% of householder and other small-scale work, from 20 major decisions.
On timing it is a little slower than average, deciding 85.5% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 559 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 Torbay (85.6%, more approving) and West Devon (84.5%, stricter). For context in South West, Cheltenham approves the most (96.5%) and Gloucester the least (80.5%).
Compare Exeter with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South West. See the full South West league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Exeter
Live planning activity in Exeter City Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 24 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Exeter City Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Exeter City Council
Recent applications in Exeter City Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Exeter page.
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Planning permission in Exeter: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Exeter?
On the latest official figures Exeter is close to the England average and in the stricter third of English authorities, approving 85.2% of the 559 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Exeter approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 85.2% approved and 14.8% refused — 476 granted and 83 refused of 559 decisions, with major schemes approved at 80% and householder and other work at 86.1%.
How quickly does Exeter decide planning applications?
On timing Exeter is a little slower than average: 85.5% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Exeter stricter than nearby councils?
Exeter's 85.2% approval rate makes it the 22nd most approving of 27 authorities in South West, against a 89.5% regional average. Neighbouring Torbay approves 85.6% and West Devon 84.5%.
Can I use Exeter's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Exeter 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 Exeter City 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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