London householder planning approval rates

Homeowners planning an extension, loft conversion or similar works often ask which London boroughs are "hardest" for planning permission. The honest answer has to use the right denominator: householder applications, not the mix of major commercial schemes and minor dwellings that dilutes all-decisions figures.

This league table ranks all 33 London boroughs by the share of householder planning applications granted over the four most recent published quarters of Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) district planning statistics (PS2). Lower grant rate ranks higher as "harder" in aggregate — it does not mean a well-prepared application will be refused.

Figures are official local-authority returns under the Open Government Licence. Read the methodology before citing a number: the householder category is broader than "rear extension only", rates can be revised in later releases, and permitted-development routes sit outside these decision totals.

Across 2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1, Barking and Dagenham granted the smallest share of the householder applications it decided — 68% of 406 decisions. At the other end, City of London granted 100% of 1. The London average was 85.6% across 24,758 householder decisions in 33 reporting boroughs.

Householder applications are the class that extensions, loft conversions and other domestic projects fall under, which is why we use them as the denominator rather than all decisions — the methodology note below sets out exactly what that includes and what it does not.

Approval rate = householder applications granted ÷ householder applications decided, from MHCLG PS2 '(other) householder developments' columns. This is deliberately not the all-decisions rate: major commercial schemes and minor dwellings dilute the figure most relevant to homeowners considering extensions, lofts and similar works.

Sum of decided/granted/refused across the four quarters, then a single rate. Not a simple average of quarterly rates.

Boroughs ranked hardest-first by lowest householder grant rate. Equal rates keep source order; rank is dense among reported boroughs only.

• PS2 figures are local-authority returns and can be revised in later releases.
• Householder category is broader than 'rear extension only' — it includes a range of householder applications as defined in the PS2 return.
• A lower grant rate does not mean a well-prepared application will be refused; it describes the aggregate outcome for the period.
• Prior approvals and permitted-development routes sit outside these householder decision totals where classified separately in PS2.