Planning Approval Rate in Rugby
Rugby is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 93.4% of applications and decides 84.8% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #57 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Rugby, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Rugby Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 513 decisions (479 granted, 34 refused).
How Rugby compares
| Rugby | 93.4% |
| West Midlands average | 87.8% |
| England average | 87% |
Rugby is 6.4 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Rugby?
Rugby is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 93.4% of the applications it decides (rank 57th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 93.4% approved against an England average of 87%. Within West Midlands it is the 8th most approving of 30 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.8%. Refusals are uncommon here: 34 of its 513 decisions were refusals (6.6%). On the split by scale it is far tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 78.3% of major developments approved versus 93.9% of householder and other small-scale work, from 23 major decisions.
On timing it is a little slower than average, deciding 84.8% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 513 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its West Midlands neighbours it sits between Newcastle-under-Lyme (93.5%, more approving) and North Warwickshire (93.3%, stricter). For context in West Midlands, Redditch approves the most (96.2%) and Lichfield the least (79.7%).
Compare Rugby with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in West Midlands. See the full West Midlands league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Rugby
Live planning activity in Rugby Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 18 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Rugby Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Rugby Borough Council
Recent applications in Rugby Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Rugby page.
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Planning permission in Rugby: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Rugby?
On the latest official figures Rugby is somewhat more approving than the England average and in the more approving third of English authorities, approving 93.4% of the 513 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Rugby approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 93.4% approved and 6.6% refused — 479 granted and 34 refused of 513 decisions, with major schemes approved at 78.3% and householder and other work at 93.9%.
How quickly does Rugby decide planning applications?
On timing Rugby is a little slower than average: 84.8% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Rugby stricter than nearby councils?
Rugby's 93.4% approval rate makes it the 8th most approving of 30 authorities in West Midlands, against a 87.8% regional average. Neighbouring Newcastle-under-Lyme approves 93.5% and North Warwickshire 93.3%.
Can I use Rugby's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Rugby 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 Rugby Borough 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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