Planning Approval Rate in Havant
Havant is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 94% of applications and decides 85.9% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #46 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Havant, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Havant Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 419 decisions (394 granted, 25 refused).
How Havant compares
| Havant | 94% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Havant is 7 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Havant?
Havant is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 94% of the applications it decides (rank 46th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 94% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 10th most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are uncommon here: 25 of its 419 decisions were refusals (6%). On the split by scale it is far tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 80% of major developments approved versus 95.7% of householder and other small-scale work, from 10 major decisions.
On timing it is a little slower than average, deciding 85.9% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 419 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 Tonbridge and Malling (94.1%, more approving) and Tunbridge Wells (93.6%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Havant with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Havant
Live planning activity in Havant Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 3 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Havant Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Havant Borough Council
Recent applications in Havant Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Havant page.
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Planning permission in Havant: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Havant?
On the latest official figures Havant is somewhat more approving than the England average and in the more approving third of English authorities, approving 94% of the 419 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Havant approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 94% approved and 6% refused — 394 granted and 25 refused of 419 decisions, with major schemes approved at 80% and householder and other work at 95.7%.
How quickly does Havant decide planning applications?
On timing Havant is a little slower than average: 85.9% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Havant stricter than nearby councils?
Havant's 94% approval rate makes it the 10th most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Tonbridge and Malling approves 94.1% and Tunbridge Wells 93.6%.
Can I use Havant's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Havant 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 Havant 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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