Planning Approval Rate in Rushmoor
Rushmoor is markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council for planning permission: it approves 95.5% of applications and decides 95.5% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #17 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Rushmoor, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Rushmoor Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 313 decisions (299 granted, 14 refused).
How Rushmoor compares
| Rushmoor | 95.5% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Rushmoor is 8.5 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Rushmoor?
Rushmoor is among the ten per cent most approving authorities in England, granting 95.5% of the applications it decides (rank 17th of 310). That puts it markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council — 95.5% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 3rd most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are rare here: 14 of its 313 decisions were refusals (4.5%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 100% of major developments approved versus 96.6% of householder and other small-scale work, from 9 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 95.5% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 313 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 Vale of White Horse (95.5%, more approving) and Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (94.9%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Rushmoor with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Rushmoor
Live planning activity in Rushmoor Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 1 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Rushmoor Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Rushmoor Borough Council
Recent applications in Rushmoor Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Rushmoor page.
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Planning permission in Rushmoor: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Rushmoor?
On the latest official figures Rushmoor is markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council and among the ten per cent most approving authorities in England, approving 95.5% of the 313 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Rushmoor approve or refuse?
Refusals are rare here: 95.5% approved and 4.5% refused — 299 granted and 14 refused of 313 decisions, with major schemes approved at 100% and householder and other work at 96.6%.
How quickly does Rushmoor decide planning applications?
On timing Rushmoor is a little faster than average: 95.5% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Rushmoor stricter than nearby councils?
Rushmoor's 95.5% approval rate makes it the 3rd most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Vale of White Horse approves 95.5% and Ebbsfleet Development Corporation 94.9%.
Can I use Rushmoor's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Rushmoor 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 Rushmoor 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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