Planning Approval Rate in Lewes
Lewes is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 90.5% of applications and decides 82.2% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #118 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Lewes, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Lewes District Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 411 decisions (372 granted, 39 refused).
How Lewes compares
| Lewes | 90.5% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Lewes is 3.5 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Lewes?
Lewes is a little more approving than the median English authority, granting 90.5% of the applications it decides (rank 118th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 90.5% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 24th most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are uncommon here: 39 of its 411 decisions were refusals (9.5%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 90.9% of major developments approved versus 94.9% of householder and other small-scale work, from 11 major decisions.
On timing it is among the slower authorities, deciding 82.2% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 411 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 New Forest (90.6%, more approving) and West Berkshire (90.4%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Lewes with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Lewes
Live planning activity in Lewes District Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 4 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Lewes District Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Lewes District Council
Recent applications in Lewes District Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Lewes page.
Embed this stat
Free to embed on your site with a credit link to PlanWatch:
Planning permission in Lewes: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Lewes?
On the latest official figures Lewes is somewhat more approving than the England average and a little more approving than the median English authority, approving 90.5% of the 411 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Lewes approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 90.5% approved and 9.5% refused — 372 granted and 39 refused of 411 decisions, with major schemes approved at 90.9% and householder and other work at 94.9%.
How quickly does Lewes decide planning applications?
On timing Lewes is among the slower authorities: 82.2% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Lewes stricter than nearby councils?
Lewes's 90.5% approval rate makes it the 24th most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring New Forest approves 90.6% and West Berkshire 90.4%.
Can I use Lewes's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Lewes 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 Lewes 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.
Download the data (JSON) · CSV · National league table · South East league table
Track live decisions in Lewes
Set a free alert and get emailed when a planning application near you is decided.
See planning in LewesRelated: tree surveys in Lewes · all applications