Planning Approval Rate in Slough
Slough is markedly stricter than the typical English council for planning permission: it approves 77.1% of applications and decides 76.1% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #292 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Slough, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Slough Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 637 decisions (491 granted, 146 refused).
How Slough compares
| Slough | 77.1% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Slough is 9.9 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Slough?
Slough is among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, granting 77.1% of the applications it decides (rank 292nd of 310). That puts it markedly stricter than the typical English council — 77.1% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 61st most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 146 of its 637 decisions were refusals (22.9%). On the split by scale it is far tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 56.3% of major developments approved versus 78.7% of householder and other small-scale work, from 16 major decisions.
On timing it is among the slower authorities, deciding 76.1% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 637 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 Woking (79.5%, more approving) and Elmbridge (76.3%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Slough with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Slough
Live planning activity in Slough Borough 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 Slough Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Slough Borough Council
Recent applications in Slough Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Slough page.
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Planning permission in Slough: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Slough?
On the latest official figures Slough is markedly stricter than the typical English council and among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, approving 77.1% of the 637 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Slough approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 77.1% approved and 22.9% refused — 491 granted and 146 refused of 637 decisions, with major schemes approved at 56.3% and householder and other work at 78.7%.
How quickly does Slough decide planning applications?
On timing Slough is among the slower authorities: 76.1% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Slough stricter than nearby councils?
Slough's 77.1% approval rate makes it the 61st most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Woking approves 79.5% and Elmbridge 76.3%.
Can I use Slough's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Slough 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 Slough 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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