Planning Approval Rate in Rutland
Rutland is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 87% of applications and decides 98.8% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #186 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Rutland, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Rutland.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 509 decisions (443 granted, 66 refused).
How Rutland compares
| Rutland | 87% |
| East Midlands average | 89.8% |
| England average | 87% |
Rutland is about average for England.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Rutland?
Rutland is a little stricter than the median English authority, granting 87% of the applications it decides (rank 186th of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 87% approved against an England average of 87%. Within East Midlands it is the 27th most approving of 35 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 89.8%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 66 of its 509 decisions were refusals (13%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 81% of major developments approved versus 90.1% of householder and other small-scale work, from 21 major decisions.
On timing it is among the faster authorities, deciding 98.8% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 509 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its East Midlands neighbours it sits between Hinckley and Bosworth (88.2%, more approving) and Charnwood (86.6%, stricter). For context in East Midlands, North Kesteven approves the most (97.2%) and Oadby and Wigston the least (71.7%).
Compare Rutland with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in East Midlands. See the full East Midlands league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Rutland
Live planning activity in Rutland
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 3 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Rutland
Where planning activity concentrates in Rutland
Recent applications in Rutland
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Rutland page.
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Planning permission in Rutland: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Rutland?
On the latest official figures Rutland is close to the England average and a little stricter than the median English authority, approving 87% of the 509 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Rutland approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 87% approved and 13% refused — 443 granted and 66 refused of 509 decisions, with major schemes approved at 81% and householder and other work at 90.1%.
How quickly does Rutland decide planning applications?
On timing Rutland is among the faster authorities: 98.8% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Rutland stricter than nearby councils?
Rutland's 87% approval rate makes it the 27th most approving of 35 authorities in East Midlands, against a 89.8% regional average. Neighbouring Hinckley and Bosworth approves 88.2% and Charnwood 86.6%.
Can I use Rutland's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Rutland 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 Rutland 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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