Planning Approval Rate in Rochford
Rochford is markedly stricter than the typical English council for planning permission: it approves 77.6% of applications and decides 73.8% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #288 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Rochford, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Rochford District Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 477 decisions (370 granted, 107 refused).
How Rochford compares
| Rochford | 77.6% |
| East of England average | 86.1% |
| England average | 87% |
Rochford is 9.4 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Rochford?
Rochford is among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, granting 77.6% of the applications it decides (rank 288th of 310). That puts it markedly stricter than the typical English council — 77.6% approved against an England average of 87%. Within East of England it is the 41st most approving of 45 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 86.1%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 107 of its 477 decisions were refusals (22.4%). On the split by scale it is strikingly more lenient on major schemes than on small ones: 100% of major developments approved versus 81% of householder and other small-scale work, from 8 major decisions.
On timing it is among the slower authorities, deciding 73.8% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 477 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its East of England neighbours it sits between Watford (79.1%, more approving) and Castle Point (77.2%, stricter). For context in East of England, Norwich approves the most (95.6%) and Epping Forest the least (66.1%).
Compare Rochford with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in East of England. See the full East of England league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Rochford
Live planning activity in Rochford District 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 Rochford District Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Rochford District Council
Recent applications in Rochford District Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Rochford page.
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Planning permission in Rochford: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Rochford?
On the latest official figures Rochford is markedly stricter than the typical English council and among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, approving 77.6% of the 477 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Rochford approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 77.6% approved and 22.4% refused — 370 granted and 107 refused of 477 decisions, with major schemes approved at 100% and householder and other work at 81%.
How quickly does Rochford decide planning applications?
On timing Rochford is among the slower authorities: 73.8% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Rochford stricter than nearby councils?
Rochford's 77.6% approval rate makes it the 41st most approving of 45 authorities in East of England, against a 86.1% regional average. Neighbouring Watford approves 79.1% and Castle Point 77.2%.
Can I use Rochford's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Rochford 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 Rochford 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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