Planning Approval Rate in Shropshire
Shropshire is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 87% of applications and decides 91.7% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #183 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Shropshire, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Shropshire Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 2,039 decisions (1,774 granted, 265 refused).
How Shropshire compares
| Shropshire | 87% |
| West Midlands average | 87.8% |
| England average | 87% |
Shropshire is about average for England.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Shropshire?
Shropshire is a little stricter than the median English authority, granting 87% of the applications it decides (rank 183rd of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 87% approved against an England average of 87%. Within West Midlands it is the 19th most approving of 30 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.8%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 265 of its 2,039 decisions were refusals (13%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 78.4% of major developments approved versus 92.3% of householder and other small-scale work, from 74 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 91.7% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on one of the heavier caseloads of 2,039 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 Stafford (87.3%, more approving) and South Staffordshire (86.7%, stricter). For context in West Midlands, Redditch approves the most (96.2%) and Lichfield the least (79.7%).
Compare Shropshire with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in West Midlands. See the full West Midlands league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Shropshire
Live planning activity in Shropshire Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 25 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Shropshire Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Shropshire Council
Recent applications in Shropshire Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Shropshire page.
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Planning permission in Shropshire: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Shropshire?
On the latest official figures Shropshire is close to the England average and a little stricter than the median English authority, approving 87% of the 2,039 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Shropshire approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 87% approved and 13% refused — 1,774 granted and 265 refused of 2,039 decisions, with major schemes approved at 78.4% and householder and other work at 92.3%.
How quickly does Shropshire decide planning applications?
On timing Shropshire is about average on speed: 91.7% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Shropshire stricter than nearby councils?
Shropshire's 87% approval rate makes it the 19th most approving of 30 authorities in West Midlands, against a 87.8% regional average. Neighbouring Stafford approves 87.3% and South Staffordshire 86.7%.
Can I use Shropshire's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Shropshire 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 Shropshire 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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