Planning Approval Rate in Wealden
Wealden is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 84.4% of applications and decides 94.1% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #234 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Wealden, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Wealden District Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,401 decisions (1,183 granted, 218 refused).
How Wealden compares
| Wealden | 84.4% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Wealden is 2.6 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Wealden?
Wealden is in the stricter third of English authorities, granting 84.4% of the applications it decides (rank 234th of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 84.4% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 49th most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 218 of its 1,401 decisions were refusals (15.6%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 82.4% of major developments approved versus 86.8% of householder and other small-scale work, from 68 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 94.1% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on one of the heavier caseloads of 1,401 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 Guildford (84.5%, more approving) and Surrey Heath (84.3%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Wealden with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Wealden
Live planning activity in Wealden District Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 8 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Wealden District Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Wealden District Council
Recent applications in Wealden District Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Wealden page.
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Planning permission in Wealden: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Wealden?
On the latest official figures Wealden is close to the England average and in the stricter third of English authorities, approving 84.4% of the 1,401 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Wealden approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 84.4% approved and 15.6% refused — 1,183 granted and 218 refused of 1,401 decisions, with major schemes approved at 82.4% and householder and other work at 86.8%.
How quickly does Wealden decide planning applications?
On timing Wealden is a little faster than average: 94.1% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Wealden stricter than nearby councils?
Wealden's 84.4% approval rate makes it the 49th most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Guildford approves 84.5% and Surrey Heath 84.3%.
Can I use Wealden's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Wealden 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 Wealden District 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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