Planning Approval Rate in Preston
Preston is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 90.5% of applications and decides 93.8% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #117 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Preston, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Preston City Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 682 decisions (617 granted, 65 refused).
How Preston compares
| Preston | 90.5% |
| North West average | 88.3% |
| England average | 87% |
Preston is 3.5 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Preston?
Preston is a little more approving than the median English authority, granting 90.5% of the applications it decides (rank 117th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 90.5% approved against an England average of 87%. Within North West it is the 13th most approving of 35 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 88.3%. Refusals are uncommon here: 65 of its 682 decisions were refusals (9.5%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 89.3% of major developments approved versus 92.9% of householder and other small-scale work, from 56 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 93.8% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 682 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 Westmorland and Furness (92.2%, more approving) and Salford (89.5%, stricter). For context in North West, Cumberland approves the most (96.8%) and Warrington the least (76.2%).
Compare Preston with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in North West. See the full North West league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Preston
Live planning activity in Preston City Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 2 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Preston City Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Preston City Council
Recent applications in Preston City Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Preston page.
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Planning permission in Preston: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Preston?
On the latest official figures Preston is somewhat more approving than the England average and a little more approving than the median English authority, approving 90.5% of the 682 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Preston approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 90.5% approved and 9.5% refused — 617 granted and 65 refused of 682 decisions, with major schemes approved at 89.3% and householder and other work at 92.9%.
How quickly does Preston decide planning applications?
On timing Preston is a little faster than average: 93.8% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Preston stricter than nearby councils?
Preston's 90.5% approval rate makes it the 13th most approving of 35 authorities in North West, against a 88.3% regional average. Neighbouring Westmorland and Furness approves 92.2% and Salford 89.5%.
Can I use Preston's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Preston 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 Preston City 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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