Planning Appeals by Council

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

Data covers the most recent 24-month period. Rankings are based on 200 councils that meet minimum data thresholds for statistical significance. Last updated 10 June 2026.

#	Council	Total Appeals	Allowed	Dismissed	Success Rate
1	Leeds City Council	271	69	171	25.5%
2	Cornwall Council	265	96	146	36.2%
3	North Yorkshire Council	248	74	150	29.8%
4	London Borough of Bromley	237	76	146	32.1%
5	London Borough of Barnet	236	75	147	31.8%
6	Bristol City Council	198	51	131	25.8%
7	Cheshire East	190	61	110	32.1%
8	London Borough of Hounslow	178	80	92	44.9%
9	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	169	52	109	30.8%
10	London Borough of Croydon	167	33	128	19.8%
11	London Borough of Havering	166	46	110	27.7%
12	City of Westminster Council	164	59	86	36%
13	London Borough of Brent	164	35	109	21.3%
14	Dorset	163	46	103	28.2%
15	Birmingham City Council	162	52	97	32.1%
16	City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council	154	25	104	16.2%
17	London Borough of Hillingdon	153	58	80	37.9%
18	Epping Forest District Council	149	51	91	34.2%
19	Wiltshire Council	149	52	79	34.9%
20	Liverpool City Council	148	47	96	31.8%
21	Somerset Council	144	50	89	34.7%
22	Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead	139	40	85	28.8%
23	London Borough of Enfield	138	38	90	27.5%
24	London Borough of Camden	135	34	85	25.2%
25	Central Bedfordshire	135	31	98	23%
26	Manchester City Council	130	39	72	30%
27	East Riding of Yorkshire Council	128	32	93	25%
28	Cheshire West and Chester	128	42	72	32.8%
29	London Borough of Hackney	126	49	63	38.9%
30	South Gloucestershire Council	124	55	62	44.4%
31	Wealden District Council	124	46	74	37.1%
32	Royal Borough of Greenwich	121	54	64	44.6%
33	Shropshire County Council	121	26	82	21.5%
34	London Borough of Harrow	120	33	85	27.5%
35	Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council	117	30	76	25.6%
36	Elmbridge Borough Council	117	46	66	39.3%
37	West Northamptonshire	114	33	75	28.9%
38	London Borough of Lambeth	114	29	81	25.4%
39	Horsham District Council	113	25	65	22.1%
40	Waltham Forest London Borough Council	111	32	75	28.8%
41	East Hertfordshire District Council	108	42	63	38.9%
42	Wychavon District Council	107	46	57	43%
43	London Borough of Wandsworth	107	29	72	27.1%
44	Guildford Borough Council	106	24	65	22.6%
45	Mole Valley District Council	106	29	66	27.4%
46	North Northamptonshire	104	42	61	40.4%
47	Uttlesford District Council	103	26	72	25.2%
48	London Borough of Ealing	101	29	63	28.7%
49	Richmond Upon Thames London Borough Council	101	28	71	27.7%
50	Luton Borough Council	101	31	63	30.7%

How Planning Appeals Work

When a council refuses planning permission, or fails to determine an application within the statutory period, the applicant can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. An independent inspector reviews the case afresh and makes a binding decision. Appeals can be determined by written representations, hearings, or public inquiries depending on the scale and complexity of the proposal.

A high volume of appeals may indicate that a council is being overly restrictive, or it may reflect the controversial nature of development proposals in the area. The appeal success rate - the proportion of appeals allowed - is a key indicator. If more than 10% of a council's major application decisions are overturned, the government considers this a cause for concern.

Appeals are expensive and time-consuming for all parties. Councils that lose appeals frequently may face costs awards, and persistent poor performance can lead to government intervention.

Appeal Outcomes Explained

"Allowed" means the inspector granted permission that the council had refused. "Dismissed" means the inspector agreed with the refusal. Some appeals are withdrawn before determination, and split decisions can occur where permission is granted for part of a scheme. The success rate shown here is based on the proportion of allowed decisions among all determined appeals.