Planning Approval Rate in Salford
Salford is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 89.5% of applications and decides 95% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #137 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Salford, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Salford City Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 783 decisions (701 granted, 82 refused).
How Salford compares
| Salford | 89.5% |
| North West average | 88.3% |
| England average | 87% |
Salford is 2.5 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Salford?
Salford is a little more approving than the median English authority, granting 89.5% of the applications it decides (rank 137th of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 89.5% approved against an England average of 87%. Within North West it is the 14th most approving of 35 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 88.3%. Refusals are uncommon here: 82 of its 783 decisions were refusals (10.5%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 89.7% of major developments approved versus 91.6% of householder and other small-scale work, from 29 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 95% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 783 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its North West neighbours it sits between Preston (90.5%, more approving) and Rossendale (88.3%, stricter). For context in North West, Cumberland approves the most (96.8%) and Warrington the least (76.2%).
Compare Salford with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in North West. See the full North West league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Salford
Live planning activity in Salford City Council
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 Salford City Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Salford City Council
Recent applications in Salford City Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Salford page.
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Planning permission in Salford: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Salford?
On the latest official figures Salford is close to the England average and a little more approving than the median English authority, approving 89.5% of the 783 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Salford approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 89.5% approved and 10.5% refused — 701 granted and 82 refused of 783 decisions, with major schemes approved at 89.7% and householder and other work at 91.6%.
How quickly does Salford decide planning applications?
On timing Salford is a little faster than average: 95% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Salford stricter than nearby councils?
Salford's 89.5% approval rate makes it the 14th most approving of 35 authorities in North West, against a 88.3% regional average. Neighbouring Preston approves 90.5% and Rossendale 88.3%.
Can I use Salford's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Salford 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 Salford City 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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