Planning Approval Rate in Gravesham
Gravesham is markedly stricter than the typical English council for planning permission: it approves 71.6% of applications and decides 96.3% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #306 of 310 English authorities. This is the approval-rate record for Gravesham: how hard it is to get planning permission, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours, from official government statistics.
Looking for a particular application rather than the statistics? Search Gravesham planning applications by postcode on PlanWatch.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 627 decisions (449 granted, 178 refused).
How Gravesham compares
| Gravesham | 71.6% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Gravesham is 15.4 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Gravesham?
Gravesham is among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, granting 71.6% of the applications it decides (rank 306th of 310). That puts it markedly stricter than the typical English council — 71.6% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 64th most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are common here: 178 of its 627 decisions were refusals (28.4%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 70.6% of major developments approved versus 73.2% of householder and other small-scale work, from 17 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 96.3% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 627 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 Mole Valley (73%, more approving) and Windsor and Maidenhead (68.9%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Gravesham with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Gravesham
Live planning activity in Gravesham Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 12 October 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Gravesham Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Gravesham Borough Council
Recent applications in Gravesham Borough Council
This is a sample, not the full register. Search Gravesham planning applications by postcode.
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Planning permission in Gravesham: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Gravesham?
On the latest official figures Gravesham is markedly stricter than the typical English council and among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, approving 71.6% of the 627 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Gravesham approve or refuse?
Refusals are common here: 71.6% approved and 28.4% refused — 449 granted and 178 refused of 627 decisions, with major schemes approved at 70.6% and householder and other work at 73.2%.
How quickly does Gravesham decide planning applications?
On timing Gravesham is a little faster than average: 96.3% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Gravesham stricter than nearby councils?
Gravesham's 71.6% approval rate makes it the 64th most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Mole Valley approves 73% and Windsor and Maidenhead 68.9%.
Can I use Gravesham's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Gravesham 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 Gravesham 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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