Planning Approval Rate in Maidstone
Maidstone is somewhat stricter than the England average for planning permission: it approves 82% of applications and decides 97.5% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #259 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Maidstone, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Maidstone Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,125 decisions (922 granted, 203 refused).
How Maidstone compares
| Maidstone | 82% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Maidstone is 5 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Maidstone?
Maidstone is in the stricter third of English authorities, granting 82% of the applications it decides (rank 259th of 310). That puts it somewhat stricter than the England average — 82% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 55th most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 203 of its 1,125 decisions were refusals (18%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 81.8% of major developments approved versus 85.1% of householder and other small-scale work, from 44 major decisions.
On timing it is among the faster authorities, deciding 97.5% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 1,125 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 Runnymede (82.6%, more approving) and Hart (80.9%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Maidstone with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Maidstone
Live planning activity in Maidstone Borough 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 Maidstone Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Maidstone Borough Council
Recent applications in Maidstone Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Maidstone page.
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Planning permission in Maidstone: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Maidstone?
On the latest official figures Maidstone is somewhat stricter than the England average and in the stricter third of English authorities, approving 82% of the 1,125 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Maidstone approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 82% approved and 18% refused — 922 granted and 203 refused of 1,125 decisions, with major schemes approved at 81.8% and householder and other work at 85.1%.
How quickly does Maidstone decide planning applications?
On timing Maidstone is among the faster authorities: 97.5% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Maidstone stricter than nearby councils?
Maidstone's 82% approval rate makes it the 55th most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Runnymede approves 82.6% and Hart 80.9%.
Can I use Maidstone's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Maidstone 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 Maidstone 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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