Planning Approval Rate in West Berkshire
West Berkshire is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 90.4% of applications and decides 89.9% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #119 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in West Berkshire, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across West Berkshire.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,141 decisions (1,031 granted, 110 refused).
How West Berkshire compares
| West Berkshire | 90.4% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
West Berkshire is 3.4 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in West Berkshire?
West Berkshire is a little more approving than the median English authority, granting 90.4% of the applications it decides (rank 119th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 90.4% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 25th most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are uncommon here: 110 of its 1,141 decisions were refusals (9.6%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 89.3% of major developments approved versus 93.4% of householder and other small-scale work, from 56 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 89.9% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 1,141 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 Lewes (90.5%, more approving) and Dover (90.4%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare West Berkshire with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in West Berkshire
Live planning activity in West Berkshire
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 11 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in West Berkshire
Where planning activity concentrates in West Berkshire
Recent applications in West Berkshire
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch West Berkshire page.
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Planning permission in West Berkshire: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in West Berkshire?
On the latest official figures West Berkshire is somewhat more approving than the England average and a little more approving than the median English authority, approving 90.4% of the 1,141 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does West Berkshire approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 90.4% approved and 9.6% refused — 1,031 granted and 110 refused of 1,141 decisions, with major schemes approved at 89.3% and householder and other work at 93.4%.
How quickly does West Berkshire decide planning applications?
On timing West Berkshire is about average on speed: 89.9% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is West Berkshire stricter than nearby councils?
West Berkshire's 90.4% approval rate makes it the 25th most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Lewes approves 90.5% and Dover 90.4%.
Can I use West Berkshire's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application West Berkshire 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 West Berkshire 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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