Planning Approval Rate in Hastings
Hastings is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 89.7% of applications and decides 97.1% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #131 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Hastings, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Hastings Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 339 decisions (304 granted, 35 refused).
How Hastings compares
| Hastings | 89.7% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Hastings is 2.7 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Hastings?
Hastings is a little more approving than the median English authority, granting 89.7% of the applications it decides (rank 131st of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 89.7% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 29th most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are uncommon here: 35 of its 339 decisions were refusals (10.3%). On the split by scale it is somewhat more lenient on major schemes than on small ones: 100% of major developments approved versus 90.9% of householder and other small-scale work, from 8 major decisions.
On timing it is among the faster authorities, deciding 97.1% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 339 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 Eastbourne (89.8%, more approving) and Chichester (89.5%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Hastings with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Hastings
Live planning activity in Hastings Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 30 July 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Hastings Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Hastings Borough Council
Recent applications in Hastings Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Hastings page.
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Planning permission in Hastings: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Hastings?
On the latest official figures Hastings is close to the England average and a little more approving than the median English authority, approving 89.7% of the 339 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Hastings approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 89.7% approved and 10.3% refused — 304 granted and 35 refused of 339 decisions, with major schemes approved at 100% and householder and other work at 90.9%.
How quickly does Hastings decide planning applications?
On timing Hastings is among the faster authorities: 97.1% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Hastings stricter than nearby councils?
Hastings's 89.7% approval rate makes it the 29th most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Eastbourne approves 89.8% and Chichester 89.5%.
Can I use Hastings's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Hastings 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 Hastings 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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