Planning Approval Rate in Tamworth
Tamworth is markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council for planning permission: it approves 95.5% of applications and decides 92.9% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #18 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Tamworth, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Tamworth Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 155 decisions (148 granted, 7 refused).
How Tamworth compares
| Tamworth | 95.5% |
| West Midlands average | 87.8% |
| England average | 87% |
Tamworth is 8.5 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Tamworth?
Tamworth is among the ten per cent most approving authorities in England, granting 95.5% of the applications it decides (rank 18th of 310). That puts it markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council — 95.5% approved against an England average of 87%. Within West Midlands it is the 2nd most approving of 30 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.8%. Refusals are rare here: 7 of its 155 decisions were refusals (4.5%). On the split by scale it is somewhat more lenient on major schemes than on small ones: 100% of major developments approved versus 95.6% of householder and other small-scale work, from 3 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 92.9% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 155 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its West Midlands neighbours it sits between Redditch (96.2%, more approving) and Nuneaton and Bedworth (95%, stricter). For context in West Midlands, Redditch approves the most (96.2%) and Lichfield the least (79.7%).
Compare Tamworth with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in West Midlands. See the full West Midlands league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Tamworth
Live planning activity in Tamworth Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 10 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Tamworth Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Tamworth Borough Council
Recent applications in Tamworth Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Tamworth page.
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Planning permission in Tamworth: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Tamworth?
On the latest official figures Tamworth is markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council and among the ten per cent most approving authorities in England, approving 95.5% of the 155 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Tamworth approve or refuse?
Refusals are rare here: 95.5% approved and 4.5% refused — 148 granted and 7 refused of 155 decisions, with major schemes approved at 100% and householder and other work at 95.6%.
How quickly does Tamworth decide planning applications?
On timing Tamworth is a little faster than average: 92.9% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Tamworth stricter than nearby councils?
Tamworth's 95.5% approval rate makes it the 2nd most approving of 30 authorities in West Midlands, against a 87.8% regional average. Neighbouring Redditch approves 96.2% and Nuneaton and Bedworth 95%.
Can I use Tamworth's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Tamworth 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 Tamworth 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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