Planning Approval Rate in Hertsmere
Hertsmere is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 92.5% of applications and decides 91.6% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #77 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Hertsmere, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Hertsmere Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 749 decisions (693 granted, 56 refused).
How Hertsmere compares
| Hertsmere | 92.5% |
| East of England average | 86.1% |
| England average | 87% |
Hertsmere is 5.5 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Hertsmere?
Hertsmere is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 92.5% of the applications it decides (rank 77th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 92.5% approved against an England average of 87%. Within East of England it is the 8th most approving of 45 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 86.1%. Refusals are uncommon here: 56 of its 749 decisions were refusals (7.5%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 85% of major developments approved versus 93.9% of householder and other small-scale work, from 20 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 91.6% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 749 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its East of England neighbours it sits between North Hertfordshire (92.5%, more approving) and Ipswich (92.3%, stricter). For context in East of England, Norwich approves the most (95.6%) and Epping Forest the least (66.1%).
Compare Hertsmere with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in East of England. See the full East of England league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Hertsmere
Live planning activity in Hertsmere Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 24 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Hertsmere Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Hertsmere Borough Council
Recent applications in Hertsmere Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Hertsmere page.
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Planning permission in Hertsmere: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Hertsmere?
On the latest official figures Hertsmere is somewhat more approving than the England average and in the more approving third of English authorities, approving 92.5% of the 749 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Hertsmere approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 92.5% approved and 7.5% refused — 693 granted and 56 refused of 749 decisions, with major schemes approved at 85% and householder and other work at 93.9%.
How quickly does Hertsmere decide planning applications?
On timing Hertsmere is about average on speed: 91.6% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Hertsmere stricter than nearby councils?
Hertsmere's 92.5% approval rate makes it the 8th most approving of 45 authorities in East of England, against a 86.1% regional average. Neighbouring North Hertfordshire approves 92.5% and Ipswich 92.3%.
Can I use Hertsmere's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Hertsmere 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 Hertsmere 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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