Planning Approval Rate in Sutton
Sutton is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 88.3% of applications and decides 95.3% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #159 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Sutton, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Sutton.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 901 decisions (796 granted, 105 refused).
How Sutton compares
| Sutton | 88.3% |
| London average | 82.5% |
| England average | 87% |
Sutton is 1.3 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Sutton?
Sutton is a little stricter than the median English authority, granting 88.3% of the applications it decides (rank 159th of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 88.3% approved against an England average of 87%. Within London it is the 10th most approving of 34 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 82.5%. Refusals are uncommon here: 105 of its 901 decisions were refusals (11.7%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 88.2% of major developments approved versus 91% of householder and other small-scale work, from 17 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 95.3% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 901 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its London neighbours it sits between Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (88.9%, more approving) and Merton (87.7%, stricter). For context in London, Hammersmith and Fulham approves the most (97.2%) and Barking and Dagenham the least (66.2%).
Compare Sutton with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in London. See the full London league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Sutton
Live planning activity in Sutton
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 2 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Sutton
Where planning activity concentrates in Sutton
Recent applications in Sutton
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Sutton page.
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Planning permission in Sutton: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Sutton?
On the latest official figures Sutton is close to the England average and a little stricter than the median English authority, approving 88.3% of the 901 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Sutton approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 88.3% approved and 11.7% refused — 796 granted and 105 refused of 901 decisions, with major schemes approved at 88.2% and householder and other work at 91%.
How quickly does Sutton decide planning applications?
On timing Sutton is a little faster than average: 95.3% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Sutton stricter than nearby councils?
Sutton's 88.3% approval rate makes it the 10th most approving of 34 authorities in London, against a 82.5% regional average. Neighbouring Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation approves 88.9% and Merton 87.7%.
Can I use Sutton's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Sutton 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 Sutton 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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