Planning Approval Rate in Rother
Rother is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 88.2% of applications and decides 91% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #164 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Rother, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Rother District Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 780 decisions (688 granted, 92 refused).
How Rother compares
| Rother | 88.2% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Rother is 1.2 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Rother?
Rother is a little stricter than the median English authority, granting 88.2% of the applications it decides (rank 164th of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 88.2% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 36th most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are uncommon here: 92 of its 780 decisions were refusals (11.8%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 84.2% of major developments approved versus 93.2% of householder and other small-scale work, from 19 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 91% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 780 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 East Hampshire (88.3%, more approving) and Reigate and Banstead (87.4%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Rother with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Rother
Live planning activity in Rother District Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 7 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Rother District Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Rother District Council
Recent applications in Rother District Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Rother page.
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Planning permission in Rother: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Rother?
On the latest official figures Rother is close to the England average and a little stricter than the median English authority, approving 88.2% of the 780 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Rother approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 88.2% approved and 11.8% refused — 688 granted and 92 refused of 780 decisions, with major schemes approved at 84.2% and householder and other work at 93.2%.
How quickly does Rother decide planning applications?
On timing Rother is about average on speed: 91% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Rother stricter than nearby councils?
Rother's 88.2% approval rate makes it the 36th most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring East Hampshire approves 88.3% and Reigate and Banstead 87.4%.
Can I use Rother's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Rother 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 Rother 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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