Planning Approval Rate in Mole Valley
Mole Valley is markedly stricter than the typical English council for planning permission: it approves 73% of applications and decides 78% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #303 of 310 English authorities. This is the approval-rate record for Mole Valley: how hard it is to get planning permission, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours, from official government statistics.
Looking for a particular application rather than the statistics? Search Mole Valley planning applications by postcode on PlanWatch.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,025 decisions (748 granted, 277 refused).
How Mole Valley compares
| Mole Valley | 73% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Mole Valley is 14 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Mole Valley?
Mole Valley is among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, granting 73% of the applications it decides (rank 303rd of 310). That puts it markedly stricter than the typical English council — 73% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 63rd most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are common here: 277 of its 1,025 decisions were refusals (27%). On the split by scale it is far tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 54.2% of major developments approved versus 78.8% of householder and other small-scale work, from 24 major decisions.
On timing it is among the slower authorities, deciding 78% 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 Elmbridge (76.3%, more approving) and Gravesham (71.6%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Mole Valley with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Mole Valley
Live planning activity in Mole Valley District Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 7 October 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Mole Valley District Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Mole Valley District Council
Recent applications in Mole Valley District Council
This is a sample, not the full register. Search Mole Valley planning applications by postcode.
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Planning permission in Mole Valley: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Mole Valley?
On the latest official figures Mole Valley is markedly stricter than the typical English council and among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, approving 73% 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 Mole Valley approve or refuse?
Refusals are common here: 73% approved and 27% refused — 748 granted and 277 refused of 1,025 decisions, with major schemes approved at 54.2% and householder and other work at 78.8%.
How quickly does Mole Valley decide planning applications?
On timing Mole Valley is among the slower authorities: 78% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Mole Valley stricter than nearby councils?
Mole Valley's 73% approval rate makes it the 63rd most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Elmbridge approves 76.3% and Gravesham 71.6%.
Can I use Mole Valley's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Mole Valley 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 Mole Valley 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.
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