Planning Approval Rate in Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 91.2% of applications and decides 95.4% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #103 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Isle of Wight, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Isle of Wight Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 821 decisions (749 granted, 72 refused).
How Isle of Wight compares
| Isle of Wight | 91.2% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Isle of Wight is 4.2 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Isle of Wight?
Isle of Wight is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 91.2% of the applications it decides (rank 103rd of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 91.2% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 22nd most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are uncommon here: 72 of its 821 decisions were refusals (8.8%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 80% of major developments approved versus 93.3% of householder and other small-scale work, from 30 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 95.4% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 821 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 Mid Sussex (91.2%, more approving) and New Forest (90.6%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Isle of Wight with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Isle of Wight
Live planning activity in Isle of Wight Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 25 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Isle of Wight Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Isle of Wight Council
Recent applications in Isle of Wight Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Isle of Wight page.
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Planning permission in Isle of Wight: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Isle of Wight?
On the latest official figures Isle of Wight is somewhat more approving than the England average and in the more approving third of English authorities, approving 91.2% of the 821 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Isle of Wight approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 91.2% approved and 8.8% refused — 749 granted and 72 refused of 821 decisions, with major schemes approved at 80% and householder and other work at 93.3%.
How quickly does Isle of Wight decide planning applications?
On timing Isle of Wight is a little faster than average: 95.4% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Isle of Wight stricter than nearby councils?
Isle of Wight's 91.2% approval rate makes it the 22nd most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Mid Sussex approves 91.2% and New Forest 90.6%.
Can I use Isle of Wight's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Isle of Wight 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 Isle of Wight 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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