Planning Approval Rate in Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 87.1% of applications and decides 94% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #182 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Sevenoaks, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Sevenoaks District Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,193 decisions (1,039 granted, 154 refused).
How Sevenoaks compares
| Sevenoaks | 87.1% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Sevenoaks is about average for England.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Sevenoaks?
Sevenoaks is a little stricter than the median English authority, granting 87.1% of the applications it decides (rank 182nd of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 87.1% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 41st most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 154 of its 1,193 decisions were refusals (12.9%). On the split by scale it is somewhat more lenient on major schemes than on small ones: 92.9% of major developments approved versus 88.5% of householder and other small-scale work, from 28 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 94% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 1,193 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 Portsmouth (87.2%, more approving) and Oxford (86.7%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Sevenoaks with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Sevenoaks
Live planning activity in Sevenoaks District Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 11 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Sevenoaks District Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Sevenoaks District Council
Recent applications in Sevenoaks District Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Sevenoaks page.
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Planning permission in Sevenoaks: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Sevenoaks?
On the latest official figures Sevenoaks is close to the England average and a little stricter than the median English authority, approving 87.1% of the 1,193 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Sevenoaks approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 87.1% approved and 12.9% refused — 1,039 granted and 154 refused of 1,193 decisions, with major schemes approved at 92.9% and householder and other work at 88.5%.
How quickly does Sevenoaks decide planning applications?
On timing Sevenoaks is a little faster than average: 94% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Sevenoaks stricter than nearby councils?
Sevenoaks's 87.1% approval rate makes it the 41st most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Portsmouth approves 87.2% and Oxford 86.7%.
Can I use Sevenoaks's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Sevenoaks 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 Sevenoaks 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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