Planning Approval Rate in Southampton
Southampton is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 91.6% of applications and decides 90.4% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #95 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Southampton, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Southampton.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 748 decisions (685 granted, 63 refused).
How Southampton compares
| Southampton | 91.6% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Southampton is 4.6 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Southampton?
Southampton is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 91.6% of the applications it decides (rank 95th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 91.6% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 19th most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are uncommon here: 63 of its 748 decisions were refusals (8.4%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 91.7% of major developments approved versus 94% of householder and other small-scale work, from 12 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 90.4% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 748 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 Medway (91.6%, more approving) and Basingstoke and Deane (91.5%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Southampton with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Southampton
Live planning activity in Southampton
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 21 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Southampton
Where planning activity concentrates in Southampton
Recent applications in Southampton
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Southampton page.
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Planning permission in Southampton: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Southampton?
On the latest official figures Southampton is somewhat more approving than the England average and in the more approving third of English authorities, approving 91.6% of the 748 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Southampton approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 91.6% approved and 8.4% refused — 685 granted and 63 refused of 748 decisions, with major schemes approved at 91.7% and householder and other work at 94%.
How quickly does Southampton decide planning applications?
On timing Southampton is about average on speed: 90.4% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Southampton stricter than nearby councils?
Southampton's 91.6% approval rate makes it the 19th most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Medway approves 91.6% and Basingstoke and Deane 91.5%.
Can I use Southampton's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Southampton 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 Southampton 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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