Planning Approval Rate in Oldham
Oldham is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 88.2% of applications and decides 92.2% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #163 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Oldham, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Oldham.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 875 decisions (772 granted, 103 refused).
How Oldham compares
| Oldham | 88.2% |
| North West average | 88.3% |
| England average | 87% |
Oldham is 1.2 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Oldham?
Oldham is a little stricter than the median English authority, granting 88.2% of the applications it decides (rank 163rd of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 88.2% approved against an England average of 87%. Within North West it is the 16th most approving of 35 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 88.3%. Refusals are uncommon here: 103 of its 875 decisions were refusals (11.8%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 90.9% of major developments approved versus 89.5% of householder and other small-scale work, from 22 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 92.2% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 875 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its North West neighbours it sits between Rossendale (88.3%, more approving) and Burnley (87.7%, stricter). For context in North West, Cumberland approves the most (96.8%) and Warrington the least (76.2%).
Compare Oldham with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in North West. See the full North West league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Oldham
Live planning activity in Oldham
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 20 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Oldham
Where planning activity concentrates in Oldham
Recent applications in Oldham
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Oldham page.
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Planning permission in Oldham: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Oldham?
On the latest official figures Oldham is close to the England average and a little stricter than the median English authority, approving 88.2% of the 875 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Oldham approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 88.2% approved and 11.8% refused — 772 granted and 103 refused of 875 decisions, with major schemes approved at 90.9% and householder and other work at 89.5%.
How quickly does Oldham decide planning applications?
On timing Oldham is about average on speed: 92.2% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Oldham stricter than nearby councils?
Oldham's 88.2% approval rate makes it the 16th most approving of 35 authorities in North West, against a 88.3% regional average. Neighbouring Rossendale approves 88.3% and Burnley 87.7%.
Can I use Oldham's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Oldham 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 Oldham 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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