Planning Approval Rate in Horsham
Horsham is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 89.8% of applications and decides 94% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #129 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Horsham, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Horsham District Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,259 decisions (1,131 granted, 128 refused).
How Horsham compares
| Horsham | 89.8% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Horsham is 2.8 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Horsham?
Horsham is a little more approving than the median English authority, granting 89.8% of the applications it decides (rank 129th of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 89.8% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 27th most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are uncommon here: 128 of its 1,259 decisions were refusals (10.2%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 81% of major developments approved versus 95.6% of householder and other small-scale work, from 58 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 94% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on one of the heavier caseloads of 1,259 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 Dover (90.4%, more approving) and Eastbourne (89.8%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Horsham with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Horsham
Live planning activity in Horsham District Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 10 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Horsham District Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Horsham District Council
Recent applications in Horsham District Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Horsham page.
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Planning permission in Horsham: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Horsham?
On the latest official figures Horsham is close to the England average and a little more approving than the median English authority, approving 89.8% of the 1,259 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Horsham approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 89.8% approved and 10.2% refused — 1,131 granted and 128 refused of 1,259 decisions, with major schemes approved at 81% and householder and other work at 95.6%.
How quickly does Horsham decide planning applications?
On timing Horsham is a little faster than average: 94% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Horsham stricter than nearby councils?
Horsham's 89.8% approval rate makes it the 27th most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Dover approves 90.4% and Eastbourne 89.8%.
Can I use Horsham's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Horsham 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 Horsham District 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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