Planning Approval Rate in Wandsworth
Wandsworth is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 89.6% of applications and decides 90.3% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #132 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Wandsworth, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Wandsworth.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 2,141 decisions (1,919 granted, 222 refused).
How Wandsworth compares
| Wandsworth | 89.6% |
| London average | 82.5% |
| England average | 87% |
Wandsworth is 2.6 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Wandsworth?
Wandsworth is a little more approving than the median English authority, granting 89.6% of the applications it decides (rank 132nd of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 89.6% approved against an England average of 87%. Within London it is the 6th most approving of 34 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 82.5%. Refusals are uncommon here: 222 of its 2,141 decisions were refusals (10.4%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 88.5% of major developments approved versus 91.3% of householder and other small-scale work, from 26 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 90.3% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on one of the heavier caseloads of 2,141 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its London neighbours it sits between Islington (90.9%, more approving) and Bexley (89.5%, stricter). For context in London, Hammersmith and Fulham approves the most (97.2%) and Barking and Dagenham the least (66.2%).
Compare Wandsworth with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in London. See the full London league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Wandsworth
Live planning activity in Wandsworth
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 25 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Wandsworth
Where planning activity concentrates in Wandsworth
Recent applications in Wandsworth
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Wandsworth page.
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Planning permission in Wandsworth: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Wandsworth?
On the latest official figures Wandsworth is close to the England average and a little more approving than the median English authority, approving 89.6% of the 2,141 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Wandsworth approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 89.6% approved and 10.4% refused — 1,919 granted and 222 refused of 2,141 decisions, with major schemes approved at 88.5% and householder and other work at 91.3%.
How quickly does Wandsworth decide planning applications?
On timing Wandsworth is about average on speed: 90.3% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Wandsworth stricter than nearby councils?
Wandsworth's 89.6% approval rate makes it the 6th most approving of 34 authorities in London, against a 82.5% regional average. Neighbouring Islington approves 90.9% and Bexley 89.5%.
Can I use Wandsworth's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Wandsworth 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 Wandsworth 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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