Planning Appeals by Council

Which councils face the most planning appeals? Appeal volumes and success rates ranked by local planning authority.

Councils Ranked

200

Total Appeals

12,510

Avg Success Rate

29.8%

Highest Appeals

233

Planning Appeals by Council
#	Council	Total Appeals	Allowed	Dismissed	Success Rate
1	Leeds City Council	233	61	147	26.2%
2	Cornwall Council	208	74	118	35.6%
3	North Yorkshire Council	194	57	121	29.4%
4	London Borough of Bromley	193	62	118	32.1%
5	London Borough of Barnet	180	55	113	30.6%
6	Cheshire East	155	49	91	31.6%
7	Bristol City Council	151	36	100	23.8%
8	London Borough of Hounslow	146	70	70	47.9%
9	Birmingham City Council	134	46	80	34.3%
10	London Borough of Brent	133	30	92	22.6%
11	London Borough of Croydon	132	27	100	20.5%
12	London Borough of Havering	130	41	83	31.5%
13	City of Westminster Council	128	51	62	39.8%
14	Epping Forest District Council	122	43	75	35.2%
15	Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead	121	32	76	26.4%
16	Somerset Council	121	44	74	36.4%
17	City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council	120	20	83	16.7%
18	Dorset	117	35	76	29.9%
19	Wiltshire Council	116	36	68	31%
20	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	115	33	78	28.7%
21	London Borough of Hillingdon	114	43	65	37.7%
22	London Borough of Camden	112	26	75	23.2%
23	Central Bedfordshire	109	27	78	24.8%
24	London Borough of Enfield	108	30	73	27.8%
25	Cheshire West and Chester	104	32	64	30.8%
26	Manchester City Council	102	27	60	26.5%
27	Liverpool City Council	101	30	67	29.7%
28	Shropshire County Council	100	24	65	24%
29	East Riding of Yorkshire Council	98	24	74	24.5%
30	London Borough of Hackney	98	43	44	43.9%
31	West Northamptonshire	96	29	61	30.2%
32	South Gloucestershire Council	96	45	47	46.9%
33	London Borough of Lambeth	93	22	68	23.7%
34	Waltham Forest London Borough Council	93	29	61	31.2%
35	Wealden District Council	92	38	53	41.3%
36	Royal Borough of Greenwich	91	37	52	40.7%
37	Elmbridge Borough Council	90	36	51	40%
38	London Borough of Harrow	89	20	68	22.5%
39	Sheffield City Council	88	33	48	37.5%
40	Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council	88	23	55	26.1%
41	Guildford Borough Council	88	18	54	20.5%
42	Horsham District Council	87	21	54	24.1%
43	London Borough of Wandsworth	86	23	59	26.7%
44	Wychavon District Council	84	33	47	39.3%
45	Richmond Upon Thames London Borough Council	83	22	59	26.5%
46	East Hertfordshire District Council	82	34	46	41.5%
47	Mole Valley District Council	81	21	53	25.9%
48	North Northamptonshire	81	36	45	44.4%
49	London Borough of Redbridge	81	20	57	24.7%
50	Colchester Borough Council	79	20	53	25.3%
51	Uttlesford District Council	78	18	55	23.1%
52	Luton Borough Council	78	25	46	32.1%
53	East Devon District Council	77	30	45	39%
54	Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council	77	12	52	15.6%
55	Brighton and Hove City Council	76	20	54	26.3%
56	London Borough of Islington	76	19	52	25%
57	London Borough of Ealing	75	16	52	21.3%
58	Bedford Borough Council	75	14	45	18.7%
59	Kirklees Metropolitan Council	74	9	56	12.2%
60	Stratford-on-Avon District Council	73	27	41	37%
61	Buckinghamshire Council - Aylesbury Area *	71	18	46	25.4%
62	Tandridge District Council	71	27	24	38%
63	Warrington Borough Council	69	19	40	27.5%
64	Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames	69	25	42	36.2%
65	South Downs	69	22	39	31.9%
66	Northumberland County Council	68	20	40	29.4%
67	London Borough of Newham	67	10	52	14.9%
68	Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council	67	20	46	29.9%
69	Braintree District Council	66	18	47	27.3%
70	Waverley Borough Council	66	28	31	42.4%
71	Reigate and Banstead Borough Council	65	16	47	24.6%
72	City of York Council	65	9	54	13.8%
73	Coventry City Council	64	25	38	39.1%
74	Woking Borough Council	63	23	38	36.5%
75	St Albans City Council	62	20	39	32.3%
76	Maidstone Borough Council	62	22	34	35.5%
77	Stroud District Council	61	21	37	34.4%
78	Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea	60	23	32	38.3%
79	Buckinghamshire Council - Wycombe Area *	60	16	39	26.7%
80	London Borough of Bexley	59	14	44	23.7%
81	Surrey Heath Borough Council	58	13	39	22.4%
82	Durham County Council	57	12	45	21.1%
83	London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham	56	14	39	25%
84	South Cambridgeshire District Council	56	12	31	21.4%
85	Chelmsford Borough Council	56	20	34	35.7%
86	Wakefield Metropolitan District Council	55	20	32	36.4%
87	Slough Borough Council	55	16	30	29.1%
88	North Somerset Council	54	16	37	29.6%
89	London Borough of Haringey	53	17	34	32.1%
90	Runnymede Borough Council	52	11	35	21.2%
91	Warwick District Council	52	19	26	36.5%
92	London Borough of Lewisham	51	18	31	35.3%
93	London Borough of Sutton	51	18	32	35.3%
94	Ashford Borough Council	51	15	34	29.4%
95	Gravesham Borough Council	51	12	35	23.5%
96	Malvern Hills District Council	50	23	27	46%
97	London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Council	50	7	41	14%
98	Swale Borough Council	50	15	32	30%
99	Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council	50	22	27	44%
100	Southend-on-Sea City Council	49	16	27	32.7%
101	Bath and North East Somerset Council	49	11	28	22.4%
102	Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council	49	7	41	14.3%
103	Teignbridge District Council	48	15	33	31.3%
104	North Lincolnshire Council	48	13	30	27.1%
105	Basildon District Council	48	23	20	47.9%
106	London Borough of Tower Hamlets	47	7	35	14.9%
107	Spelthorne Borough Council	47	14	29	29.8%
108	Tendring District Council	47	12	33	25.5%
109	Torbay Council	47	16	29	34%
110	Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council	47	10	32	21.3%
111	Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council	47	20	22	42.6%
112	Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council	47	16	30	34%
113	Reading Borough Council	46	11	24	23.9%
114	Arun District Council	45	18	25	40%
115	Cherwell District Council	45	20	24	44.4%
116	South Oxfordshire District Council	44	15	22	34.1%
117	Folkestone and Hythe District Council	44	5	39	11.4%
118	Leicester City Council	44	14	28	31.8%
119	Herefordshire Council	44	8	31	18.2%
120	London Borough of Merton	44	11	33	25%
121	King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council	43	12	30	27.9%
122	Thurrock Borough Council	43	9	32	20.9%
123	Mid Suffolk District Council	43	8	28	18.6%
124	Mid Sussex District Council	42	17	25	40.5%
125	West Berkshire District Council	42	18	21	42.9%
126	Maldon District Council	42	15	25	35.7%
127	Oxford City Council	41	14	25	34.1%
128	Buckinghamshire Council - Chiltern Area *	40	9	30	22.5%
129	Staffordshire Moorlands District Council	40	15	24	37.5%
130	Breckland Council	40	5	31	12.5%
131	East Suffolk	40	8	30	20%
132	West Suffolk	40	12	27	30%
133	Westmorland and Furness Council	39	8	22	20.5%
134	Dartford Borough Council	39	17	18	43.6%
135	Cotswold District Council	38	15	22	39.5%
136	Lancaster City Council	38	9	22	23.7%
137	Winchester City Council	38	8	28	21.1%
138	Torridge District Council	38	13	20	34.2%
139	Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council	38	11	18	28.9%
140	Eastleigh Borough Council	38	9	24	23.7%
141	Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council	38	10	25	26.3%
142	Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council	38	7	26	18.4%
143	Hart District Council	38	14	23	36.8%
144	Dacorum Borough Council	38	10	24	26.3%
145	Canterbury City Council	38	7	23	18.4%
146	Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council	37	14	19	37.8%
147	Newcastle Upon Tyne City Council	37	5	29	13.5%
148	Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council	37	10	22	27%
149	Castle Point Borough Council	37	15	22	40.5%
150	South Hams District Council	36	9	20	25%
151	Milton Keynes Council	36	13	21	36.1%
152	Brentwood Borough Council	36	10	26	27.8%
153	Medway Council	35	6	28	17.1%
154	Rochford District Council	35	14	21	40%
155	West Oxfordshire District Council	35	9	24	25.7%
156	Rushcliffe Borough Council	34	12	19	35.3%
157	Three Rivers District Council	34	13	21	38.2%
158	Blackpool Borough Council	34	6	27	17.6%
159	Broxbourne Borough Council	34	5	25	14.7%
160	Rother District Council	34	7	26	20.6%
161	Buckinghamshire Council - South Bucks Area *	34	7	22	20.6%
162	Watford Borough Council	33	13	17	39.4%
163	Wokingham Borough Council	33	6	25	18.2%
164	Chichester District Council	33	15	16	45.5%
165	West Lancashire District Council	33	10	22	30.3%
166	Babergh District Council	33	10	23	30.3%
167	Nottingham City Council	33	17	15	51.5%
168	Bracknell Forest Borough Council	32	9	23	28.1%
169	Dover District Council	32	7	24	21.9%
170	Test Valley Borough Council	32	7	19	21.9%
171	Thanet District Council	32	8	22	25%
172	Ribble Valley Borough Council	32	11	21	34.4%
173	Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council	32	10	22	31.3%
174	Swindon Borough Council	32	5	26	15.6%
175	Peterborough City Council	31	3	26	9.7%
176	Wolverhampton City Council	31	12	15	38.7%
177	Tunbridge Wells Borough Council	31	7	20	22.6%
178	South Staffordshire District Council	31	12	19	38.7%
179	Charnwood Borough Council	30	11	19	36.7%
180	Portsmouth City Council	30	10	19	33.3%
181	South Kesteven District Council	30	11	18	36.7%
182	Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council	30	9	20	30%
183	Sevenoaks District Council	29	7	19	24.1%
184	North East Derbyshire District Council	29	5	23	17.2%
185	Middlesbrough Council*	29	5	22	17.2%
186	Tewkesbury Borough Council	29	11	17	37.9%
187	South Derbyshire District Council	28	13	14	46.4%
188	North Norfolk District Council	28	4	17	14.3%
189	Derbyshire Dales District Council	28	12	16	42.9%
190	Pendle Borough Council	28	11	13	39.3%
191	Exeter City Council	28	9	19	32.1%
192	Lichfield District Council	28	8	18	28.6%
193	Bury Metropolitan Borough Council	28	4	19	14.3%
194	Welwyn Hatfield Council	27	11	15	40.7%
195	Isle of Wight Council	27	14	13	51.9%
196	Epsom and Ewell Borough Council	27	7	20	25.9%
197	West Devon Borough Council	26	10	14	38.5%
198	Stafford Borough Council	26	12	14	46.2%
199	Peak District	26	14	12	53.8%
200	Forest of Dean District Council	26	10	14	38.5%

Last updated: 9 September 2026

Planning appeals are lodged with the Planning Inspectorate when applicants disagree with a local planning authority's refusal of a planning application, or when a council fails to determine an application within the statutory period (non-determination). The Planning Inspectorate independently reviews each appeal case. A high number of allowed appeals against a particular council may suggest that local planning authority is refusing planning applications that should be approved under national planning policy.

The planning appeal success rate (percentage of appeals allowed) varies significantly between UK councils. Government guidance indicates that local planning authorities should be concerned if more than 10% of their decisions on major planning applications are overturned at appeal, as this can trigger designation as an under-performing authority.

Planning appeals data is sourced from the Planning Inspectorate and covers all appeal types, including written representations, hearings, and public inquiries. Only local planning authorities with at least 10 planning appeals in the period are included, to ensure the success rate figures are statistically meaningful and not distorted by very small samples.

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