Planning Approval Rate in Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 88.2% of applications and decides 88.9% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #165 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Tewkesbury, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Tewkesbury Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 718 decisions (633 granted, 85 refused).
How Tewkesbury compares
| Tewkesbury | 88.2% |
| South West average | 89.5% |
| England average | 87% |
Tewkesbury is 1.2 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Tewkesbury?
Tewkesbury is a little stricter than the median English authority, granting 88.2% of the applications it decides (rank 165th of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 88.2% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South West it is the 16th most approving of 27 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 89.5%. Refusals are uncommon here: 85 of its 718 decisions were refusals (11.8%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 88.9% of major developments approved versus 92.3% of householder and other small-scale work, from 36 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 88.9% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 718 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 South Hams (88.8%, more approving) and North Somerset (88%, stricter). For context in South West, Cheltenham approves the most (96.5%) and Gloucester the least (80.5%).
Compare Tewkesbury with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South West. See the full South West league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Tewkesbury
Live planning activity in Tewkesbury Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 4 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Tewkesbury Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Tewkesbury Borough Council
Recent applications in Tewkesbury Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Tewkesbury page.
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Planning permission in Tewkesbury: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Tewkesbury?
On the latest official figures Tewkesbury is close to the England average and a little stricter than the median English authority, approving 88.2% of the 718 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Tewkesbury approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 88.2% approved and 11.8% refused — 633 granted and 85 refused of 718 decisions, with major schemes approved at 88.9% and householder and other work at 92.3%.
How quickly does Tewkesbury decide planning applications?
On timing Tewkesbury is about average on speed: 88.9% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Tewkesbury stricter than nearby councils?
Tewkesbury's 88.2% approval rate makes it the 16th most approving of 27 authorities in South West, against a 89.5% regional average. Neighbouring South Hams approves 88.8% and North Somerset 88%.
Can I use Tewkesbury's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Tewkesbury 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 Tewkesbury 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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