Planning Approval Rate in Lambeth
Lambeth is somewhat stricter than the England average for planning permission: it approves 79.9% of applications and decides 94.7% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #276 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Lambeth, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Lambeth.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,725 decisions (1,378 granted, 347 refused).
How Lambeth compares
| Lambeth | 79.9% |
| London average | 82.5% |
| England average | 87% |
Lambeth is 7.1 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Lambeth?
Lambeth is in the stricter third of English authorities, granting 79.9% of the applications it decides (rank 276th of 310). That puts it somewhat stricter than the England average — 79.9% approved against an England average of 87%. Within London it is the 21st most approving of 34 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 82.5%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 347 of its 1,725 decisions were refusals (20.1%). On the split by scale it is somewhat more lenient on major schemes than on small ones: 84% of major developments approved versus 79.4% of householder and other small-scale work, from 25 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 94.7% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on one of the heavier caseloads of 1,725 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its London neighbours it sits between Richmond upon Thames (80%, more approving) and Brent (79.1%, stricter). For context in London, Hammersmith and Fulham approves the most (97.2%) and Barking and Dagenham the least (66.2%).
Compare Lambeth with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in London. See the full London league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Lambeth
Live planning activity in Lambeth
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 26 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Lambeth
Where planning activity concentrates in Lambeth
Recent applications in Lambeth
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Lambeth page.
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Planning permission in Lambeth: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Lambeth?
On the latest official figures Lambeth is somewhat stricter than the England average and in the stricter third of English authorities, approving 79.9% of the 1,725 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Lambeth approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 79.9% approved and 20.1% refused — 1,378 granted and 347 refused of 1,725 decisions, with major schemes approved at 84% and householder and other work at 79.4%.
How quickly does Lambeth decide planning applications?
On timing Lambeth is a little faster than average: 94.7% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Lambeth stricter than nearby councils?
Lambeth's 79.9% approval rate makes it the 21st most approving of 34 authorities in London, against a 82.5% regional average. Neighbouring Richmond upon Thames approves 80% and Brent 79.1%.
Can I use Lambeth's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Lambeth 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 Lambeth 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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