Planning Approval Rate in Newham
Newham is somewhat stricter than the England average for planning permission: it approves 81.5% of applications and decides 89.5% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #263 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Newham, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Newham.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,143 decisions (931 granted, 212 refused).
How Newham compares
| Newham | 81.5% |
| London average | 82.5% |
| England average | 87% |
Newham is 5.5 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Newham?
Newham is in the stricter third of English authorities, granting 81.5% of the applications it decides (rank 263rd of 310). That puts it somewhat stricter than the England average — 81.5% approved against an England average of 87%. Within London it is the 18th most approving of 34 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 82.5%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 212 of its 1,143 decisions were refusals (18.5%). On the split by scale it is strikingly more lenient on major schemes than on small ones: 100% of major developments approved versus 79.9% of householder and other small-scale work, from 26 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 89.5% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 1,143 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its London neighbours it sits between Hackney (81.5%, more approving) and Tower Hamlets (81.2%, stricter). For context in London, Hammersmith and Fulham approves the most (97.2%) and Barking and Dagenham the least (66.2%).
Compare Newham with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in London. See the full London league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Newham
Live planning activity in Newham
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 21 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Newham
Where planning activity concentrates in Newham
Recent applications in Newham
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Newham page.
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Planning permission in Newham: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Newham?
On the latest official figures Newham is somewhat stricter than the England average and in the stricter third of English authorities, approving 81.5% of the 1,143 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Newham approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 81.5% approved and 18.5% refused — 931 granted and 212 refused of 1,143 decisions, with major schemes approved at 100% and householder and other work at 79.9%.
How quickly does Newham decide planning applications?
On timing Newham is about average on speed: 89.5% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Newham stricter than nearby councils?
Newham's 81.5% approval rate makes it the 18th most approving of 34 authorities in London, against a 82.5% regional average. Neighbouring Hackney approves 81.5% and Tower Hamlets 81.2%.
Can I use Newham's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Newham 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 Newham 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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