Planning Approval Rate in Southwark
Southwark is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 91.4% of applications and decides 94.6% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #98 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Southwark, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Southwark.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,589 decisions (1,452 granted, 137 refused).
How Southwark compares
| Southwark | 91.4% |
| London average | 82.5% |
| England average | 87% |
Southwark is 4.4 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Southwark?
Southwark is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 91.4% of the applications it decides (rank 98th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 91.4% approved against an England average of 87%. Within London it is the 4th most approving of 34 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 82.5%. Refusals are uncommon here: 137 of its 1,589 decisions were refusals (8.6%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 86.7% of major developments approved versus 91.9% of householder and other small-scale work, from 30 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 94.6% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on one of the heavier caseloads of 1,589 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its London neighbours it sits between Kensington and Chelsea (93%, more approving) and Islington (90.9%, stricter). For context in London, Hammersmith and Fulham approves the most (97.2%) and Barking and Dagenham the least (66.2%).
Compare Southwark with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in London. See the full London league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Southwark
Live planning activity in Southwark
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 10 July 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Southwark
Where planning activity concentrates in Southwark
Recent applications in Southwark
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Southwark page.
Embed this stat
Free to embed on your site with a credit link to PlanWatch:
Planning permission in Southwark: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Southwark?
On the latest official figures Southwark is somewhat more approving than the England average and in the more approving third of English authorities, approving 91.4% of the 1,589 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Southwark approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 91.4% approved and 8.6% refused — 1,452 granted and 137 refused of 1,589 decisions, with major schemes approved at 86.7% and householder and other work at 91.9%.
How quickly does Southwark decide planning applications?
On timing Southwark is a little faster than average: 94.6% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Southwark stricter than nearby councils?
Southwark's 91.4% approval rate makes it the 4th most approving of 34 authorities in London, against a 82.5% regional average. Neighbouring Kensington and Chelsea approves 93% and Islington 90.9%.
Can I use Southwark's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Southwark 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 Southwark 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 · London league table
Track live decisions in Southwark
Set a free alert and get emailed when a planning application near you is decided.
See planning in SouthwarkRelated: tree surveys in Southwark · all applications