Planning Approval Rate in Hammersmith and Fulham
Hammersmith and Fulham is markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council for planning permission: it approves 97.2% of applications and decides 94.7% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #2 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Hammersmith and Fulham, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Hammersmith and Fulham.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,401 decisions (1,362 granted, 39 refused).
How Hammersmith and Fulham compares
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 97.2% |
| London average | 82.5% |
| England average | 87% |
Hammersmith and Fulham is 10.2 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Hammersmith and Fulham?
Hammersmith and Fulham is among the ten per cent most approving authorities in England, granting 97.2% of the applications it decides (rank 2nd of 310). That puts it markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council — 97.2% approved against an England average of 87%. Within London it is the most approving of 34 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 82.5%. Refusals are rare here: 39 of its 1,401 decisions were refusals (2.8%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 91.7% of major developments approved versus 96.7% of householder and other small-scale work, from 12 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 94.7% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on one of the heavier caseloads of 1,401 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. It is more approving than its nearest London peer by rank, City of London (96.2%). At the other end of London, Barking and Dagenham is the strictest authority, approving 66.2%.
Compare Hammersmith and Fulham with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in London. See the full London league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Hammersmith and Fulham
Live planning activity in Hammersmith and Fulham
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 11 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Hammersmith and Fulham
Where planning activity concentrates in Hammersmith and Fulham
Recent applications in Hammersmith and Fulham
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Planning permission in Hammersmith and Fulham: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Hammersmith and Fulham?
On the latest official figures Hammersmith and Fulham is markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council and among the ten per cent most approving authorities in England, approving 97.2% of the 1,401 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Hammersmith and Fulham approve or refuse?
Refusals are rare here: 97.2% approved and 2.8% refused — 1,362 granted and 39 refused of 1,401 decisions, with major schemes approved at 91.7% and householder and other work at 96.7%.
How quickly does Hammersmith and Fulham decide planning applications?
On timing Hammersmith and Fulham is a little faster than average: 94.7% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Hammersmith and Fulham stricter than nearby councils?
Hammersmith and Fulham's 97.2% approval rate makes it the most approving of 34 authorities in London, against a 82.5% regional average. Neighbouring City of London approves 96.2%.
Can I use Hammersmith and Fulham's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Hammersmith and Fulham 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 Hammersmith and Fulham 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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