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Luton

East of England · E06000032 · 189 quarters held (1979 Q2 – 2026 Q2)

Decisions
731
2025 Q3 – 2026 Q2
Refusal rate
24.6%
higher than 96% of authorities
Majors in time
75.0%
threshold 60%
Minors in time
97.2%
threshold 70%
Householder in time
100.0%
no formal threshold
Delegated
96.6%
decisions not to committee
Appellant win rate
30.2%
115 allowed of 381 decided
Decisions overturned
2.6%
quality threshold 10%

Refusal rate trend — last 40 quarters

2016 Q3 → 2026 Q2 · peak 29.7%

Official statistics — is development moving through the system?

MHCLG quarterly planning returns (PS1/PS2), last 4 quarters 2025 Q3 to 2026 Q2, and the government's latest Housing Delivery Test. These are the authority's own statutory returns, not our scrape.

Applications received
772
in the window
Applications decided
731
in the window
Approval rate
75.4%
551 granted, 180 refused · national median refusal 11.6%
Refusal rate rank 61 of 63 unitary authorities (1 = fewest refusals) · peer median 10.6%
Decided within time
98.9%
rank 22 of 307 reporting authorities · national median 91.4%
Rank 8 of 63 unitary authorities · peer median 90.6%

Peer ranks compare only unitary authorities with more than 50 decisions in the window, the same floor as the national rank. A rank among peers is the fairer read: types of authority carry very different caseloads.

Performance by development type
TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time
Major2295.5%75.0%
Minor18759.4%97.2%
Other52280.3%—
of which householder41884.7%100.0%
"In time" = within the statutory period or an agreed extension, excluding prior approvals. "Other" covers everything that is neither major nor minor; householder figures are measured against the 8-week period.
Applications through the system
Last 8 quarters held
01202392024 Q3: 190 received2024 Q3: 209 decided2024 Q32024 Q4: 162 received2024 Q4: 180 decided2025 Q1: 194 received2025 Q1: 155 decided2025 Q2: 171 received2025 Q2: 172 decided2025 Q3: 173 received2025 Q3: 161 decided2025 Q4: 239 received2025 Q4: 233 decided2026 Q1: 173 received2026 Q1: 175 decided2026 Q2: 187 received2026 Q2: 162 decided2026 Q2
▬ received   ▬ decided
Housing Delivery Test
HDT 2025 measurement, homes delivered against requirement over 2022/23 to 2024/25
54%
Presumption

Delivery below 75%: the NPPF presumption in favour of sustainable development applies to housing applications here. A material point for any housing proposal.

Where these figures come from. Each dataset below is the publisher's own file, loaded unchanged; rows are matched to this authority by its ONS code (E06000032). Missing values are shown as "—" and are never estimated or filled from another period.
DatasetPublisherCovers this authorityLoadedOfficial source
Planning application decisions (PS2)MHCLG1979 Q2 to 2026 Q2 (189 quarters)18 Oct 2026 · 68,583 rows nationallyLive tables
Planning application flow (PS1)MHCLG1979 Q2 to 2026 Q2 (189 quarters)18 Oct 2026 · 42,861 rows nationallyLive tables
Housing Delivery Test 2025MHCLG2022/23 to 2024/2518 Aug 2026Measurement
Open Government Licence v3.0. The MHCLG tables are reloaded every Sunday; the loaded date is the last successful run.

Quarterly history

QuarterDecisions GrantedRefused Refusal %Majors in time Minors in timeReceived
2026 Q2 162 117 45 27.8% — 100.0% 187
2026 Q1 175 123 52 29.7% 0.0% 96.6% 173
2025 Q4 233 179 54 23.2% 100.0% 100.0% 239
2025 Q3 161 132 29 18.0% 100.0% 90.5% 173
2025 Q2 172 128 44 25.6% 100.0% 92.3% 171
2025 Q1 155 111 44 28.4% 100.0% 100.0% 194
2024 Q4 180 138 42 23.3% 100.0% 95.0% 162
2024 Q3 209 156 53 25.4% 75.0% 96.0% 190
2024 Q2 198 146 52 26.3% 0.0% 100.0% 215
2024 Q1 169 125 44 26.0% — 94.4% 179
2023 Q4 172 123 49 28.5% 0.0% 93.8% 187
2023 Q3 188 139 49 26.1% 100.0% 100.0% 200
2023 Q2 194 152 42 21.6% — 90.0% 202
2023 Q1 211 168 43 20.4% 100.0% 81.0% 192
2022 Q4 214 162 52 24.3% 100.0% 88.0% 205
2022 Q3 257 205 52 20.2% 25.0% 96.7% 243
2022 Q2 236 173 63 26.7% 100.0% 96.2% 272
2022 Q1 232 178 54 23.3% 100.0% 96.9% 235
2021 Q4 227 172 55 24.2% 100.0% 100.0% 260
2021 Q3 268 202 66 24.6% 100.0% 88.9% 241
2021 Q2 267 188 79 29.6% 100.0% 100.0% 291
2021 Q1 249 185 64 25.7% 60.0% 84.4% 292
2020 Q4 260 197 63 24.2% 88.9% 75.9% 244
2020 Q3 223 162 61 27.4% 100.0% 88.6% 264
2020 Q2 206 147 59 28.6% — 78.0% 213
2020 Q1 236 182 54 22.9% 66.7% 91.7% 257
2019 Q4 251 193 58 23.1% 50.0% 88.6% 229
2019 Q3 283 219 64 22.6% 100.0% 92.0% 353
2019 Q2 262 210 52 19.8% 100.0% 94.4% 343
2019 Q1 251 188 63 25.1% 66.7% 80.0% 305
2018 Q4 237 168 69 29.1% 40.0% 91.2% 128
2018 Q3 253 197 56 22.1% 75.0% 91.9% 110
2018 Q2 292 232 60 20.5% 33.3% 87.9% 138
2018 Q1 278 208 70 25.2% 75.0% 93.2% 142
2017 Q4 254 187 67 26.4% 75.0% 87.3% 157
2017 Q3 340 255 85 25.0% 100.0% 98.0% 158
2017 Q2 290 218 72 24.8% 50.0% 83.3% 300
2017 Q1 264 197 67 25.4% 0.0% 82.1% 313
2016 Q4 318 228 90 28.3% 66.7% 92.2% 355
2016 Q3 318 262 56 17.6% 62.5% 84.0% 381
2016 Q2 272 201 71 26.1% 100.0% 89.8% 338
2016 Q1 222 146 76 34.2% — 88.6% 303
2015 Q4 172 116 56 32.6% 0.0% 77.1% 244
2015 Q3 223 154 69 30.9% 75.0% 96.2% 254
2015 Q2 255 207 48 18.8% 100.0% 62.5% 294
2015 Q1 180 134 46 25.6% 50.0% 67.6% 239
2014 Q4 206 174 32 15.5% 57.1% 57.1% 214
2014 Q3 237 183 54 22.8% 28.6% 57.3% 237
2014 Q2 157 112 45 28.7% 100.0% 60.0% 236
2014 Q1 196 166 23 11.7% 100.0% 70.2% 227
2013 Q4 207 135 64 30.9% 75.0% 77.1% 215
2013 Q3 240 183 45 18.8% 60.0% 92.1% 246
2013 Q2 226 171 46 20.4% 71.4% 88.5% 251
2013 Q1 192 143 43 22.4% 66.7% 73.1% 211
2012 Q4 230 166 49 21.3% 75.0% 85.4% 220
2012 Q3 234 161 65 27.8% 71.4% 82.7% 249
2012 Q2 270 181 72 26.7% 20.0% 84.6% 242
2012 Q1 208 148 56 26.9% 100.0% 87.3% 281
2011 Q4 219 172 36 16.4% 100.0% 85.2% 236
2011 Q3 289 219 57 19.7% 80.0% 87.3% 259
2011 Q2 272 218 43 15.8% 57.1% 91.9% 314
2011 Q1 201 147 47 23.4% 75.0% 87.3% 254
2010 Q4 215 178 25 11.6% 66.7% 87.0% 218
2010 Q3 273 216 43 15.8% 73.3% 86.4% 250
2010 Q2 243 198 34 14.0% 77.8% 90.5% 300
2010 Q1 200 147 44 22.0% 85.7% 88.9% 236
2009 Q4 195 144 46 23.6% 72.7% 78.8% 246
2009 Q3 271 227 33 12.2% 75.0% 82.1% 268
2009 Q2 220 177 33 15.0% 75.0% 90.6% 262
2009 Q1 193 158 26 13.5% 40.0% 79.7% 191
2008 Q4 244 178 57 23.4% 57.1% 77.3% 204
2008 Q3 316 241 68 21.5% 50.0% 58.7% 274
2008 Q2 341 259 82 24.0% 53.1% 68.9% 325
2008 Q1 366 262 90 24.6% 22.7% 43.4% 339
2007 Q4 369 271 86 23.3% 26.7% 41.0% 341
2007 Q3 406 316 71 17.5% 50.0% 56.2% 403
2007 Q2 305 227 64 21.0% 76.9% 63.5% 506
2007 Q1 242 185 52 21.5% 66.7% 71.9% 293
2006 Q4 306 227 71 23.2% 69.2% 79.5% 330
2006 Q3 340 257 80 23.5% 91.3% 81.7% 322
2006 Q2 339 266 68 20.1% 88.9% 80.8% 378
2006 Q1 282 191 46 16.3% 90.9% 87.1% 397
2005 Q4 342 228 72 21.1% 93.8% 86.9% 300
2005 Q3 398 272 74 18.6% 83.3% 91.0% 420
2005 Q2 453 305 88 19.4% 84.2% 80.2% 459
2005 Q1 421 286 75 17.8% 76.2% 57.7% 452
2004 Q4 445 268 89 20.0% 56.3% 58.5% 416
2004 Q3 458 307 89 19.4% 36.4% 66.3% 511
2004 Q2 442 278 84 19.0% 17.6% 67.6% 477
2004 Q1 363 226 83 22.9% 0.0% 46.6% 427
2003 Q4 333 237 52 15.6% 14.3% 49.1% 377
2003 Q3 441 304 82 18.6% 9.1% 63.0% 410
2003 Q2 425 324 80 18.8% 16.7% 49.5% 468
2003 Q1 306 231 55 18.0% 43.8% 59.2% 392
2002 Q4 381 309 61 16.0% 61.1% 52.4% 391
2002 Q3 391 324 59 15.1% 54.2% 55.7% 425
2002 Q2 353 289 54 15.3% 41.2% 65.3% 397
2002 Q1 286 242 41 14.3% 64.3% 66.2% 360
2001 Q4 395 305 48 12.2% 61.1% 44.9% 295
2001 Q3 356 290 62 17.4% 42.9% 47.5% 395
2001 Q2 337 275 59 17.5% 11.1% 34.2% 367
2001 Q1 245 194 45 18.4% 25.0% 48.9% 332
2000 Q4 291 245 44 15.1% 38.5% 57.9% 301
2000 Q3 339 295 38 11.2% 35.7% 50.8% 345
2000 Q2 278 245 27 9.7% 52.4% 33.3% 331
2000 Q1 243 220 19 7.8% 62.5% 22.2% 308
1999 Q4 285 263 18 6.3% 16.7% 15.4% 279
1999 Q3 320 291 27 8.4% 40.0% 35.7% 306
1999 Q2 253 234 17 6.7% 27.8% 33.3% 301
1999 Q1 182 155 27 14.8% 41.7% 28.8% 315
1998 Q4 302 267 31 10.3% 68.4% 53.0% 258
1998 Q3 268 246 20 7.5% 70.8% 41.0% 320
1998 Q2 289 221 68 23.5% 45.5% 69.2% 307
1998 Q1 273 244 29 10.6% 53.8% 50.0% 311
1997 Q4 274 230 44 16.1% 54.5% 50.8% 236
1997 Q3 295 218 77 26.1% 75.0% 68.0% 296
1997 Q2 298 265 31 10.4% 87.5% 72.3% 332
1997 Q1 263 215 48 18.3% 60.0% 56.3% 266
1996 Q4 333 258 69 20.7% 62.5% 61.7% 322
1996 Q3 316 279 35 11.1% 81.8% 75.0% 346
1996 Q2 293 208 82 28.0% 83.3% 68.2% 327
1996 Q1 81 75 6 7.4% 87.5% 89.7% —
1995 Q4 93 93 0 0.0% 95.8% 61.1% —
1995 Q3 137 128 9 6.6% 78.3% 70.6% —
1995 Q2 116 110 6 5.2% 87.5% 76.6% —
1995 Q1 115 114 1 0.9% 100.0% 61.9% —
1994 Q4 136 133 3 2.2% 92.3% 82.6% —
1994 Q3 168 166 2 1.2% 88.0% 83.1% —
1994 Q2 112 106 6 5.4% 95.7% 91.1% —
1994 Q1 93 90 3 3.2% 89.5% 88.9% —
1993 Q4 122 117 5 4.1% 100.0% 87.8% —
1993 Q3 95 94 1 1.1% 88.2% 86.1% —
1993 Q2 96 92 4 4.2% 81.3% 81.6% —
1993 Q1 103 99 4 3.9% 100.0% 83.8% —
1992 Q4 87 86 1 1.1% 83.3% 92.3% —
1992 Q3 90 85 5 5.6% 87.5% 86.8% —
1992 Q2 114 108 6 5.3% 90.0% 81.6% —
1992 Q1 110 109 1 0.9% 86.4% 59.5% —
1991 Q4 110 98 12 10.9% 65.2% 66.7% —
1991 Q3 67 64 3 4.5% 91.7% 65.0% —
1991 Q2 65 62 3 4.6% 81.8% 47.6% —
1991 Q1 90 88 2 2.2% 33.3% 74.2% —
1990 Q4 99 95 4 4.0% 60.0% 79.3% —
1990 Q3 110 105 5 4.5% 57.1% 51.4% —
1990 Q2 98 97 1 1.0% 54.5% 57.4% —
1990 Q1 93 88 5 5.4% 43.8% 73.7% —
1989 Q4 155 151 4 2.6% 17.4% 66.2% —
1989 Q3 134 128 6 4.5% 40.0% 49.1% —
1989 Q2 158 152 6 3.8% 37.5% 45.2% —
1989 Q1 133 131 2 1.5% 65.0% 37.3% —
1988 Q4 182 171 11 6.0% 45.2% 62.2% —
1988 Q3 181 180 1 0.6% 57.1% 55.1% —
1988 Q2 184 183 1 0.5% 23.1% 57.0% —
1988 Q1 151 149 2 1.3% 66.7% 36.7% —
1987 Q4 184 177 7 3.8% 37.1% 45.3% —
1987 Q3 144 139 5 3.5% 47.6% 50.0% —
1987 Q2 141 139 2 1.4% 53.3% 55.3% —
1987 Q1 146 133 13 8.9% 51.9% 46.3% —
1986 Q4 157 153 4 2.5% 45.0% 54.0% —
1986 Q3 140 138 2 1.4% 40.0% 55.4% —
1986 Q2 132 126 6 4.5% 76.9% 60.0% —
1986 Q1 124 111 13 10.5% 67.4% 57.8% —
1985 Q4 137 132 5 3.6% 70.5% 68.0% —
1985 Q3 134 129 5 3.7% 69.8% 48.8% —
1985 Q2 99 93 6 6.1% 64.4% 58.1% —
1985 Q1 147 141 6 4.1% 88.2% 63.0% —
1984 Q4 77 73 4 5.2% 66.7% 59.5% —
1984 Q3 92 87 5 5.4% 69.2% 62.5% —
1984 Q2 106 99 7 6.6% 73.3% 73.0% —
1984 Q1 115 112 3 2.6% 70.6% 77.3% —
1983 Q4 102 96 6 5.9% 80.6% 87.8% —
1983 Q3 97 93 4 4.1% 91.3% 71.8% —
1983 Q2 88 79 9 10.2% 54.2% 73.3% —
1983 Q1 102 93 9 8.8% 57.9% 61.1% —
1982 Q4 630 584 46 7.3% 66.7% 38.7% —
1982 Q3 602 558 44 7.3% 46.2% 51.0% —
1982 Q2 659 602 57 8.6% 45.0% 37.0% —
1982 Q1 429 383 46 10.7% 65.0% 44.7% —
1981 Q4 409 359 50 12.2% 90.0% 60.5% —
1981 Q3 473 413 60 12.7% 42.9% 51.7% —
1981 Q2 643 554 89 13.8% 79.2% 50.3% —
1981 Q1 602 553 49 8.1% 58.6% 48.8% —
1980 Q4 556 504 52 9.4% 73.9% 54.9% —
1980 Q3 615 573 42 6.8% 63.2% 42.9% —
1980 Q2 705 656 49 7.0% 67.6% 51.9% —
1980 Q1 605 567 38 6.3% 59.5% 48.2% —
1979 Q4 649 604 45 6.9% 73.5% 53.9% —
1979 Q3 660 606 54 8.2% 54.5% 62.5% —
1979 Q2 773 726 47 6.1% 79.3% 59.0% —

Decisions and speed: MHCLG planning application statistics (PS1/PS2), Open Government Licence v3.0, 2025 Q3 – 2026 Q2. Speed figures exclude prior approvals and are measured against the statutory period or agreed extension. Appeal figures: our aggregation of published Planning Inspectorate decisions, 2021–2026 — a different period from the decision figures above. Designation thresholds shown are indicative, not official.

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