Planning Approval Rate in Swindon
Swindon is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 89.2% of applications and decides 88.1% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #142 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Swindon, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Swindon Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 772 decisions (689 granted, 83 refused).
How Swindon compares
| Swindon | 89.2% |
| South West average | 89.5% |
| England average | 87% |
Swindon is 2.2 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Swindon?
Swindon is a little more approving than the median English authority, granting 89.2% of the applications it decides (rank 142nd of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 89.2% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South West it is the 11th most approving of 27 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 89.5%. Refusals are uncommon here: 83 of its 772 decisions were refusals (10.8%). On the split by scale it is somewhat more lenient on major schemes than on small ones: 94.4% of major developments approved versus 89% of householder and other small-scale work, from 36 major decisions.
On timing it is a little slower than average, deciding 88.1% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 772 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its South West neighbours it sits between Dorset (90.7%, more approving) and Somerset (89%, stricter). For context in South West, Cheltenham approves the most (96.5%) and Gloucester the least (80.5%).
Compare Swindon with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South West. See the full South West league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Swindon
Live planning activity in Swindon Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 11 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Swindon Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Swindon Borough Council
Recent applications in Swindon Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Swindon page.
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Planning permission in Swindon: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Swindon?
On the latest official figures Swindon is close to the England average and a little more approving than the median English authority, approving 89.2% of the 772 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Swindon approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 89.2% approved and 10.8% refused — 689 granted and 83 refused of 772 decisions, with major schemes approved at 94.4% and householder and other work at 89%.
How quickly does Swindon decide planning applications?
On timing Swindon is a little slower than average: 88.1% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Swindon stricter than nearby councils?
Swindon's 89.2% approval rate makes it the 11th most approving of 27 authorities in South West, against a 89.5% regional average. Neighbouring Dorset approves 90.7% and Somerset 89%.
Can I use Swindon's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Swindon 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 Swindon 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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