Planning Approval Rate in Medway
Medway is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 91.6% of applications and decides 96.6% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #94 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Medway, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Medway Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,025 decisions (939 granted, 86 refused).
How Medway compares
| Medway | 91.6% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Medway is 4.6 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Medway?
Medway is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 91.6% of the applications it decides (rank 94th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 91.6% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 18th most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are uncommon here: 86 of its 1,025 decisions were refusals (8.4%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 84.8% of major developments approved versus 93.6% of householder and other small-scale work, from 46 major decisions.
On timing it is among the faster authorities, deciding 96.6% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 1,025 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 Adur (92.3%, more approving) and Southampton (91.6%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Medway with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Medway
Live planning activity in Medway 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 Medway Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Medway Council
Recent applications in Medway Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Medway page.
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Planning permission in Medway: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Medway?
On the latest official figures Medway is somewhat more approving than the England average and in the more approving third of English authorities, approving 91.6% of the 1,025 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Medway approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 91.6% approved and 8.4% refused — 939 granted and 86 refused of 1,025 decisions, with major schemes approved at 84.8% and householder and other work at 93.6%.
How quickly does Medway decide planning applications?
On timing Medway is among the faster authorities: 96.6% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Medway stricter than nearby councils?
Medway's 91.6% approval rate makes it the 18th most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Adur approves 92.3% and Southampton 91.6%.
Can I use Medway's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Medway 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 Medway 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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