Planning Approval Rate in South Oxfordshire
South Oxfordshire is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 94.4% of applications and decides 91.3% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #32 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in South Oxfordshire, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across South Oxfordshire District Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,522 decisions (1,437 granted, 85 refused).
How South Oxfordshire compares
| South Oxfordshire | 94.4% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
South Oxfordshire is 7.4 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in South Oxfordshire?
South Oxfordshire is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 94.4% of the applications it decides (rank 32nd of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 94.4% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 7th most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are uncommon here: 85 of its 1,522 decisions were refusals (5.6%). On the split by scale it is far tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 71.1% of major developments approved versus 96.9% of householder and other small-scale work, from 38 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 91.3% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on one of the heavier caseloads of 1,522 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 Wokingham (94.7%, more approving) and Gosport (94.2%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare South Oxfordshire with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in South Oxfordshire
Live planning activity in South Oxfordshire District Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 8 July 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in South Oxfordshire District Council
Where planning activity concentrates in South Oxfordshire District Council
Recent applications in South Oxfordshire District Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch South Oxfordshire page.
Embed this stat
Free to embed on your site with a credit link to PlanWatch:
Planning permission in South Oxfordshire: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in South Oxfordshire?
On the latest official figures South Oxfordshire is somewhat more approving than the England average and in the more approving third of English authorities, approving 94.4% of the 1,522 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does South Oxfordshire approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 94.4% approved and 5.6% refused — 1,437 granted and 85 refused of 1,522 decisions, with major schemes approved at 71.1% and householder and other work at 96.9%.
How quickly does South Oxfordshire decide planning applications?
On timing South Oxfordshire is about average on speed: 91.3% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is South Oxfordshire stricter than nearby councils?
South Oxfordshire's 94.4% approval rate makes it the 7th most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Wokingham approves 94.7% and Gosport 94.2%.
Can I use South Oxfordshire's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application South Oxfordshire 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 South Oxfordshire 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.
Download the data (JSON) · CSV · National league table · South East league table
Track live decisions in South Oxfordshire
Set a free alert and get emailed when a planning application near you is decided.
See planning in South OxfordshireRelated: tree surveys in South Oxfordshire · all applications