Planning Approval Rate in Worthing
Worthing is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 93.3% of applications and decides 93.4% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #62 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Worthing, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Worthing Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 563 decisions (525 granted, 38 refused).
How Worthing compares
| Worthing | 93.3% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Worthing is 6.3 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Worthing?
Worthing is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 93.3% of the applications it decides (rank 62nd of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 93.3% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 15th most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are uncommon here: 38 of its 563 decisions were refusals (6.7%). On the split by scale it is somewhat more lenient on major schemes than on small ones: 100% of major developments approved versus 93.7% of householder and other small-scale work, from 5 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 93.4% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 563 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 Winchester (93.3%, more approving) and Test Valley (92.5%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Worthing with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Worthing
Live planning activity in Worthing 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 Worthing Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Worthing Borough Council
Recent applications in Worthing Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Worthing page.
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Planning permission in Worthing: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Worthing?
On the latest official figures Worthing is somewhat more approving than the England average and in the more approving third of English authorities, approving 93.3% of the 563 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Worthing approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 93.3% approved and 6.7% refused — 525 granted and 38 refused of 563 decisions, with major schemes approved at 100% and householder and other work at 93.7%.
How quickly does Worthing decide planning applications?
On timing Worthing is a little faster than average: 93.4% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Worthing stricter than nearby councils?
Worthing's 93.3% approval rate makes it the 15th most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Winchester approves 93.3% and Test Valley 92.5%.
Can I use Worthing's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Worthing 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 Worthing 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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