Planning Approval Rate in Havering
Havering is markedly stricter than the typical English council for planning permission: it approves 72.8% of applications and decides 96.7% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #304 of 310 English authorities. This is the approval-rate record for Havering: 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 Havering planning applications by postcode on PlanWatch.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,476 decisions (1,075 granted, 401 refused).
How Havering compares
| Havering | 72.8% |
| London average | 82.5% |
| England average | 87% |
Havering is 14.2 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Havering?
Havering is among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, granting 72.8% of the applications it decides (rank 304th of 310). That puts it markedly stricter than the typical English council — 72.8% approved against an England average of 87%. Within London it is the 32nd most approving of 34 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 82.5%. Refusals are common here: 401 of its 1,476 decisions were refusals (27.2%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 72.2% of major developments approved versus 76.5% of householder and other small-scale work, from 18 major decisions.
On timing it is among the faster authorities, deciding 96.7% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on one of the heavier caseloads of 1,476 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its London neighbours it sits between Redbridge (74%, more approving) and Hounslow (68.3%, stricter). For context in London, Hammersmith and Fulham approves the most (97.2%) and Barking and Dagenham the least (66.2%).
Compare Havering with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in London. See the full London league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Havering
Live planning activity in Havering Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 8 October 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Havering Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Havering Council
Recent applications in Havering Council
This is a sample, not the full register. Search Havering planning applications by postcode.
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Planning permission in Havering: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Havering?
On the latest official figures Havering is markedly stricter than the typical English council and among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, approving 72.8% of the 1,476 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Havering approve or refuse?
Refusals are common here: 72.8% approved and 27.2% refused — 1,075 granted and 401 refused of 1,476 decisions, with major schemes approved at 72.2% and householder and other work at 76.5%.
How quickly does Havering decide planning applications?
On timing Havering is among the faster authorities: 96.7% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Havering stricter than nearby councils?
Havering's 72.8% approval rate makes it the 32nd most approving of 34 authorities in London, against a 82.5% regional average. Neighbouring Redbridge approves 74% and Hounslow 68.3%.
Can I use Havering's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Havering 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 Havering 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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