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 25 July 2026.

#	Council	Total Appeals	Allowed	Dismissed	Success Rate
1	Leeds City Council	251	64	161	25.5%
2	Cornwall Council	238	85	133	35.7%
3	North Yorkshire Council	221	66	137	29.9%
4	London Borough of Bromley	211	69	129	32.7%
5	London Borough of Barnet	208	64	131	30.8%
6	Cheshire East	170	55	99	32.4%
7	Bristol City Council	169	41	113	24.3%
8	London Borough of Hounslow	164	75	83	45.7%
9	City of Westminster Council	152	58	77	38.2%
10	London Borough of Havering	151	44	99	29.1%
11	London Borough of Croydon	149	31	112	20.8%
12	London Borough of Brent	149	32	101	21.5%
13	Birmingham City Council	145	50	85	34.5%
14	Dorset	142	41	88	28.9%
15	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	140	44	92	31.4%
16	Epping Forest District Council	138	48	83	34.8%
17	City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council	136	24	93	17.6%
18	London Borough of Hillingdon	132	52	71	39.4%
19	Somerset Council	132	46	82	34.8%
20	Liverpool City Council	132	40	87	30.3%
21	Wiltshire Council	128	42	73	32.8%
22	London Borough of Enfield	126	36	80	28.6%
23	London Borough of Camden	126	33	81	26.2%
24	Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead	125	34	78	27.2%
25	Central Bedfordshire	119	31	84	26.1%
26	Cheshire West and Chester	117	34	71	29.1%
27	London Borough of Hackney	111	46	52	41.4%
28	Manchester City Council	111	31	65	27.9%
29	East Riding of Yorkshire Council	109	25	81	22.9%
30	Shropshire County Council	107	25	71	23.4%
31	South Gloucestershire Council	107	50	52	46.7%
32	Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council	107	25	71	23.4%
33	Wealden District Council	106	39	63	36.8%
34	Horsham District Council	106	23	60	21.7%
35	London Borough of Harrow	105	30	73	28.6%
36	London Borough of Lambeth	104	27	73	26%
37	West Northamptonshire	104	31	67	29.8%
38	Waltham Forest London Borough Council	101	30	68	29.7%
39	Royal Borough of Greenwich	100	43	55	43%
40	Elmbridge Borough Council	98	40	55	40.8%
41	East Hertfordshire District Council	98	38	58	38.8%
42	London Borough of Wandsworth	97	24	68	24.7%
43	Luton Borough Council	96	29	60	30.2%
44	Wychavon District Council	96	38	54	39.6%
45	Sheffield City Council	95	35	51	36.8%
46	Richmond Upon Thames London Borough Council	95	26	67	27.4%
47	North Northamptonshire	93	39	53	41.9%
48	Guildford Borough Council	93	19	58	20.4%
49	Brighton and Hove City Council	90	25	60	27.8%
50	Colchester Borough Council	89	24	58	27%

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.