Planning Approval Rate in Merton
Merton is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 87.7% of applications and decides 91.7% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #169 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Merton, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Merton Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,126 decisions (987 granted, 139 refused).
How Merton compares
| Merton | 87.7% |
| London average | 82.5% |
| England average | 87% |
Merton is about average for England.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Merton?
Merton is a little stricter than the median English authority, granting 87.7% of the applications it decides (rank 169th of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 87.7% approved against an England average of 87%. Within London it is the 11th most approving of 34 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 82.5%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 139 of its 1,126 decisions were refusals (12.3%). On the split by scale it is somewhat more lenient on major schemes than on small ones: 95% of major developments approved versus 89.7% of householder and other small-scale work, from 20 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 91.7% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 1,126 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its London neighbours it sits between Sutton (88.3%, more approving) and Westminster (86.1%, stricter). For context in London, Hammersmith and Fulham approves the most (97.2%) and Barking and Dagenham the least (66.2%).
Compare Merton with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in London. See the full London league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Merton
Live planning activity in Merton 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 Merton Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Merton Council
Recent applications in Merton Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Merton page.
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Planning permission in Merton: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Merton?
On the latest official figures Merton is close to the England average and a little stricter than the median English authority, approving 87.7% of the 1,126 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Merton approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 87.7% approved and 12.3% refused — 987 granted and 139 refused of 1,126 decisions, with major schemes approved at 95% and householder and other work at 89.7%.
How quickly does Merton decide planning applications?
On timing Merton is about average on speed: 91.7% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Merton stricter than nearby councils?
Merton's 87.7% approval rate makes it the 11th most approving of 34 authorities in London, against a 82.5% regional average. Neighbouring Sutton approves 88.3% and Westminster 86.1%.
Can I use Merton's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Merton 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 Merton 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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