Planning Approval Rate in Tonbridge and Malling
Tonbridge and Malling is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 94.1% of applications and decides 87.2% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #40 of 310 English authorities. This is the approval-rate record for Tonbridge and Malling: how hard it is to get planning permission, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours, from official government statistics.
Looking for a particular application rather than the statistics? Search Tonbridge and Malling planning applications by postcode on PlanWatch.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 891 decisions (838 granted, 53 refused).
How Tonbridge and Malling compares
| Tonbridge and Malling | 94.1% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Tonbridge and Malling is 7.1 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Tonbridge and Malling?
Tonbridge and Malling is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 94.1% of the applications it decides (rank 40th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 94.1% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 9th most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are uncommon here: 53 of its 891 decisions were refusals (5.9%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 94.3% of major developments approved versus 95.1% of householder and other small-scale work, from 35 major decisions.
On timing it is a little slower than average, deciding 87.2% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 891 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its South East neighbours it sits between Gosport (94.2%, more approving) and Havant (94%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Tonbridge and Malling with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Tonbridge and Malling
Live planning activity in Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 12 October 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
Recent applications in Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
This is a sample, not the full register. Search Tonbridge and Malling planning applications by postcode.
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Planning permission in Tonbridge and Malling: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Tonbridge and Malling?
On the latest official figures Tonbridge and Malling is somewhat more approving than the England average and in the more approving third of English authorities, approving 94.1% of the 891 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Tonbridge and Malling approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 94.1% approved and 5.9% refused — 838 granted and 53 refused of 891 decisions, with major schemes approved at 94.3% and householder and other work at 95.1%.
How quickly does Tonbridge and Malling decide planning applications?
On timing Tonbridge and Malling is a little slower than average: 87.2% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Tonbridge and Malling stricter than nearby councils?
Tonbridge and Malling's 94.1% approval rate makes it the 9th most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Gosport approves 94.2% and Havant 94%.
Can I use Tonbridge and Malling's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Tonbridge and Malling 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 Tonbridge and Malling 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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