Planning Approval Rate in Wyre Forest
Wyre Forest is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 92.9% of applications and decides 95.8% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #70 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Wyre Forest, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Wyre Forest District Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 448 decisions (416 granted, 32 refused).
How Wyre Forest compares
| Wyre Forest | 92.9% |
| West Midlands average | 87.8% |
| England average | 87% |
Wyre Forest is 5.9 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Wyre Forest?
Wyre Forest is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 92.9% of the applications it decides (rank 70th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 92.9% approved against an England average of 87%. Within West Midlands it is the 10th most approving of 30 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.8%. Refusals are uncommon here: 32 of its 448 decisions were refusals (7.1%). On the split by scale it is somewhat more lenient on major schemes than on small ones: 100% of major developments approved versus 93.3% of householder and other small-scale work, from 15 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 95.8% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 448 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its West Midlands neighbours it sits between North Warwickshire (93.3%, more approving) and East Staffordshire (92.5%, stricter). For context in West Midlands, Redditch approves the most (96.2%) and Lichfield the least (79.7%).
Compare Wyre Forest with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in West Midlands. See the full West Midlands league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Wyre Forest
Live planning activity in Wyre Forest District Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 20 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Wyre Forest District Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Wyre Forest District Council
Recent applications in Wyre Forest District Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Wyre Forest page.
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Planning permission in Wyre Forest: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Wyre Forest?
On the latest official figures Wyre Forest is somewhat more approving than the England average and in the more approving third of English authorities, approving 92.9% of the 448 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Wyre Forest approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 92.9% approved and 7.1% refused — 416 granted and 32 refused of 448 decisions, with major schemes approved at 100% and householder and other work at 93.3%.
How quickly does Wyre Forest decide planning applications?
On timing Wyre Forest is a little faster than average: 95.8% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Wyre Forest stricter than nearby councils?
Wyre Forest's 92.9% approval rate makes it the 10th most approving of 30 authorities in West Midlands, against a 87.8% regional average. Neighbouring North Warwickshire approves 93.3% and East Staffordshire 92.5%.
Can I use Wyre Forest's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Wyre Forest 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 Wyre Forest 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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