Reading

South East · E06000038 · 189 quarters held (1979 Q2 – 2026 Q2)

Decisions

652

2025 Q3 – 2026 Q2

Refusal rate

15.2%

higher than 69% of authorities

Majors in time

50.0%

threshold 60%

Minors in time

81.8%

threshold 70%

Householder in time

74.5%

no formal threshold

Delegated

97.7%

decisions not to committee

Appellant win rate

30.3%

49 allowed of 162 decided

Decisions overturned

1.4%

quality threshold 10%

Refusal rate trend — last 40 quarters

2016 Q3 → 2026 Q2 · peak 25.5%

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

988

in the window

Applications decided

652

in the window

Approval rate

84.8%

553 granted, 99 refused · national median refusal 11.6%

Refusal rate rank 49 of 63 unitary authorities (1 = fewest refusals) · peer median 10.6%

Decided within time

77.6%

rank 268 of 307 reporting authorities · national median 91.4%

Rank 53 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

Type	Decisions	Approved	In time
Major	11	54.5%	50.0%
Minor	176	74.4%	81.8%
Other	465	89.5%	—
of which householder	306	94.8%	74.5%

"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

▬ received ▬ decided

Housing Delivery Test

HDT 2025 measurement, homes delivered against requirement over 2022/23 to 2024/25

136%

No consequence

Delivery at or above 95%: no HDT consequence.

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 (E06000038). Missing values are shown as "—" and are never estimated or filled from another period.

Dataset	Publisher	Covers this authority	Loaded	Official source
Planning application decisions (PS2)	MHCLG	1979 Q2 to 2026 Q2 (189 quarters)	18 Oct 2026 · 68,583 rows nationally	Live tables
Planning application flow (PS1)	MHCLG	1979 Q2 to 2026 Q2 (189 quarters)	18 Oct 2026 · 42,861 rows nationally	Live tables
Housing Delivery Test 2025	MHCLG	2022/23 to 2024/25	18 Aug 2026	Measurement

Open Government Licence v3.0. The MHCLG tables are reloaded every Sunday; the loaded date is the last successful run.

Quarterly history

Quarter	Decisions	Granted	Refused	Refusal %	Majors in time	Minors in time	Received
2026 Q2	184	163	21	11.4%	100.0%	95.0%	256
2026 Q1	148	130	18	12.2%	—	75.0%	235
2025 Q4	192	143	49	25.5%	0.0%	80.0%	253
2025 Q3	128	117	11	8.6%	—	75.0%	244
2025 Q2	175	150	25	14.3%	0.0%	72.2%	231
2025 Q1	140	124	16	11.4%	100.0%	70.6%	296
2024 Q4	169	139	30	17.8%	0.0%	70.0%	224
2024 Q3	177	153	24	13.6%	42.9%	53.6%	236
2024 Q2	123	110	13	10.6%	50.0%	88.9%	170
2024 Q1	148	124	24	16.2%	100.0%	93.3%	147
2023 Q4	149	131	18	12.1%	100.0%	78.9%	144
2023 Q3	141	131	10	7.1%	—	50.0%	185
2023 Q2	158	144	14	8.9%	100.0%	85.7%	197
2023 Q1	178	156	22	12.4%	—	61.5%	160
2022 Q4	204	193	11	5.4%	66.7%	33.3%	195
2022 Q3	166	155	11	6.6%	—	16.7%	184
2022 Q2	202	172	30	14.9%	—	22.7%	203
2022 Q1	147	132	15	10.2%	50.0%	55.6%	205
2021 Q4	172	166	6	3.5%	66.7%	56.3%	193
2021 Q3	234	221	13	5.6%	0.0%	60.0%	228
2021 Q2	210	196	14	6.7%	0.0%	82.4%	263
2021 Q1	190	170	20	10.5%	100.0%	56.0%	215
2020 Q4	149	143	6	4.0%	—	100.0%	218
2020 Q3	183	161	22	12.0%	—	55.0%	197
2020 Q2	174	149	25	14.4%	100.0%	42.1%	166
2020 Q1	190	170	20	10.5%	—	75.0%	213
2019 Q4	189	170	19	10.1%	100.0%	93.8%	14
2019 Q3	204	185	19	9.3%	—	78.9%	227
2019 Q2	233	215	18	7.7%	100.0%	87.5%	252
2019 Q1	199	167	32	16.1%	100.0%	80.0%	245
2018 Q4	223	194	29	13.0%	0.0%	88.9%	226
2018 Q3	235	211	24	10.2%	100.0%	75.0%	288
2018 Q2	230	206	24	10.4%	100.0%	75.0%	258
2018 Q1	221	196	25	11.3%	100.0%	84.2%	299
2017 Q4	252	231	21	8.3%	80.0%	59.3%	248
2017 Q3	266	231	35	13.2%	100.0%	90.6%	283
2017 Q2	207	182	25	12.1%	0.0%	84.6%	257
2017 Q1	236	210	26	11.0%	100.0%	78.3%	231
2016 Q4	266	231	35	13.2%	71.4%	87.5%	253
2016 Q3	273	249	24	8.8%	100.0%	65.5%	245
2016 Q2	264	226	38	14.4%	100.0%	74.1%	293
2016 Q1	214	188	26	12.1%	—	81.8%	279
2015 Q4	241	224	17	7.1%	66.7%	66.7%	288
2015 Q3	205	183	22	10.7%	100.0%	71.8%	281
2015 Q2	227	197	30	13.2%	66.7%	51.3%	258
2015 Q1	183	160	23	12.6%	100.0%	60.5%	234
2014 Q4	211	177	34	16.1%	0.0%	69.4%	247
2014 Q3	209	196	13	6.2%	66.7%	56.7%	291
2014 Q2	194	175	19	9.8%	—	74.1%	280
2014 Q1	153	122	15	9.8%	50.0%	47.5%	141
2013 Q4	160	131	13	8.1%	75.0%	52.4%	195
2013 Q3	220	176	8	3.6%	50.0%	65.8%	190
2013 Q2	195	166	13	6.7%	40.0%	63.8%	267
2013 Q1	194	155	17	8.8%	45.5%	60.5%	252
2012 Q4	236	174	30	12.7%	25.0%	76.5%	222
2012 Q3	237	186	29	12.2%	83.3%	73.7%	284
2012 Q2	270	209	30	11.1%	28.6%	60.4%	284
2012 Q1	247	190	34	13.8%	42.9%	76.8%	352
2011 Q4	238	175	41	17.2%	26.7%	58.5%	228
2011 Q3	249	177	43	17.3%	33.3%	64.7%	250
2011 Q2	222	167	28	12.6%	100.0%	72.5%	316
2011 Q1	200	143	33	16.5%	75.0%	80.4%	307
2010 Q4	249	167	43	17.3%	41.7%	74.6%	266
2010 Q3	256	189	48	18.8%	71.4%	72.7%	345
2010 Q2	257	186	41	16.0%	100.0%	89.7%	364
2010 Q1	192	138	35	18.2%	33.3%	84.6%	339
2009 Q4	280	195	62	22.1%	77.8%	81.2%	320
2009 Q3	251	196	33	13.1%	100.0%	87.1%	332
2009 Q2	243	178	42	17.3%	83.3%	85.1%	313
2009 Q1	218	147	37	17.0%	87.5%	87.0%	323
2008 Q4	307	200	74	24.1%	81.8%	69.8%	369
2008 Q3	284	217	59	20.8%	100.0%	73.9%	355
2008 Q2	293	192	86	29.4%	75.0%	67.6%	333
2008 Q1	315	206	83	26.3%	92.3%	67.4%	372
2007 Q4	280	193	67	23.9%	82.4%	71.8%	329
2007 Q3	297	222	62	20.9%	41.2%	75.0%	353
2007 Q2	294	239	44	15.0%	90.9%	67.9%	379
2007 Q1	254	202	39	15.4%	55.6%	71.6%	324
2006 Q4	286	231	37	12.9%	57.1%	80.0%	363
2006 Q3	297	241	45	15.2%	77.3%	79.1%	348
2006 Q2	287	238	43	15.0%	64.3%	84.8%	319
2006 Q1	254	207	38	15.0%	70.0%	84.8%	338
2005 Q4	276	234	35	12.7%	72.7%	73.6%	310
2005 Q3	271	225	37	13.7%	64.3%	76.3%	327
2005 Q2	260	200	53	20.4%	82.6%	80.9%	286
2005 Q1	218	172	36	16.5%	58.8%	65.6%	266
2004 Q4	288	217	66	22.9%	47.6%	76.3%	287
2004 Q3	352	269	68	19.3%	64.7%	75.3%	331
2004 Q2	294	207	71	24.1%	57.9%	82.9%	375
2004 Q1	244	183	49	20.1%	61.1%	84.9%	331
2003 Q4	279	226	47	16.8%	55.6%	80.5%	302
2003 Q3	295	250	39	13.2%	66.7%	74.0%	309
2003 Q2	323	260	54	16.7%	81.3%	79.2%	362
2003 Q1	260	202	49	18.8%	50.0%	72.6%	291
2002 Q4	322	246	53	16.5%	41.9%	56.3%	297
2002 Q3	347	275	51	14.7%	22.2%	56.8%	354
2002 Q2	337	254	62	18.4%	20.0%	59.4%	360
2002 Q1	315	236	57	18.1%	12.0%	60.6%	329
2001 Q4	333	239	76	22.8%	0.0%	73.7%	310
2001 Q3	315	233	50	15.9%	20.0%	67.5%	320
2001 Q2	335	228	75	22.4%	6.7%	58.5%	406
2001 Q1	373	273	53	14.2%	10.0%	37.1%	358
2000 Q4	400	270	67	16.8%	33.3%	42.0%	303
2000 Q3	281	232	34	12.1%	10.0%	43.7%	425
2000 Q2	289	245	34	11.8%	0.0%	49.4%	301
2000 Q1	289	245	29	10.0%	6.3%	22.5%	303
1999 Q4	204	174	30	14.7%	0.0%	19.7%	238
1999 Q3	203	182	21	10.3%	28.6%	34.3%	251
1999 Q2	229	200	24	10.5%	45.5%	50.9%	282
1999 Q1	215	178	30	14.0%	25.0%	43.8%	248
1998 Q4	223	188	34	15.2%	9.1%	26.4%	199
1998 Q3	265	230	26	9.8%	20.0%	24.4%	212
1998 Q2	277	239	33	11.9%	0.0%	22.1%	295
1998 Q1	195	152	41	21.0%	14.3%	21.9%	268
1997 Q4	228	193	34	14.9%	7.1%	25.7%	219
1997 Q3	253	216	34	13.4%	16.7%	31.2%	243
1997 Q2	199	173	25	12.6%	16.7%	27.1%	273
1997 Q1	205	184	18	8.8%	10.0%	31.5%	224
1996 Q4	223	186	34	15.2%	15.4%	41.3%	210
1996 Q3	202	171	30	14.9%	25.0%	21.1%	250
1996 Q2	208	172	33	15.9%	33.3%	32.8%	225
1996 Q1	191	161	30	15.7%	100.0%	57.8%	—
1995 Q4	167	130	37	22.2%	0.0%	58.3%	—
1995 Q3	221	178	43	19.5%	50.0%	56.0%	—
1995 Q2	218	176	42	19.3%	42.9%	52.5%	—
1995 Q1	200	184	16	8.0%	50.0%	44.0%	—
1994 Q4	196	168	28	14.3%	100.0%	40.7%	—
1994 Q3	206	174	32	15.5%	33.3%	37.5%	—
1994 Q2	170	142	28	16.5%	25.0%	36.8%	—
1994 Q1	172	157	15	8.7%	100.0%	44.6%	—
1993 Q4	186	148	38	20.4%	50.0%	46.7%	—
1993 Q3	205	170	35	17.1%	0.0%	40.3%	—
1993 Q2	168	120	48	28.6%	83.3%	43.1%	—
1993 Q1	161	136	25	15.5%	60.0%	52.5%	—
1992 Q4	172	139	33	19.2%	50.0%	43.1%	—
1992 Q3	195	156	39	20.0%	40.0%	36.8%	—
1992 Q2	173	157	16	9.2%	50.0%	52.6%	—
1992 Q1	198	155	43	21.7%	57.1%	45.3%	—
1991 Q4	197	149	48	24.4%	80.0%	52.3%	—
1991 Q3	180	136	44	24.4%	100.0%	57.4%	—
1991 Q2	219	183	36	16.4%	16.7%	52.1%	—
1991 Q1	174	149	25	14.4%	0.0%	41.1%	—
1990 Q4	228	169	59	25.9%	33.3%	55.9%	—
1990 Q3	262	211	51	19.5%	0.0%	54.5%	—
1990 Q2	228	182	46	20.2%	40.0%	55.4%	—
1990 Q1	240	187	53	22.1%	42.9%	34.0%	—
1989 Q4	238	161	77	32.4%	27.3%	38.7%	—
1989 Q3	255	182	73	28.6%	33.3%	30.1%	—
1989 Q2	298	218	80	26.8%	33.3%	43.5%	—
1989 Q1	276	210	66	23.9%	0.0%	59.3%	—
1988 Q4	311	218	93	29.9%	44.4%	57.0%	—
1988 Q3	300	232	68	22.7%	61.5%	51.7%	—
1988 Q2	317	249	68	21.5%	50.0%	34.1%	—
1988 Q1	197	168	29	14.7%	37.5%	62.1%	—
1987 Q4	321	239	82	25.5%	58.3%	53.2%	—
1987 Q3	279	208	71	25.4%	70.0%	56.6%	—
1987 Q2	186	146	40	21.5%	54.5%	51.4%	—
1987 Q1	249	197	52	20.9%	62.5%	56.9%	—
1986 Q4	299	206	93	31.1%	54.5%	67.2%	—
1986 Q3	245	190	55	22.4%	100.0%	62.1%	—
1986 Q2	240	189	51	21.3%	50.0%	61.2%	—
1986 Q1	176	141	35	19.9%	40.0%	80.5%	—
1985 Q4	287	238	49	17.1%	75.0%	60.0%	—
1985 Q3	225	191	34	15.1%	100.0%	70.6%	—
1985 Q2	228	197	31	13.6%	87.5%	71.4%	—
1985 Q1	188	159	29	15.4%	100.0%	67.1%	—
1984 Q4	211	177	34	16.1%	100.0%	67.8%	—
1984 Q3	212	180	32	15.1%	100.0%	70.0%	—
1984 Q2	232	200	32	13.8%	87.5%	71.8%	—
1984 Q1	219	188	31	14.2%	83.3%	69.8%	—
1983 Q4	193	147	46	23.8%	80.0%	70.0%	—
1983 Q3	212	175	37	17.5%	85.0%	67.0%	—
1983 Q2	235	202	33	14.0%	86.7%	54.8%	—
1983 Q1	213	169	44	20.7%	100.0%	30.9%	—
1982 Q4	195	151	44	22.6%	100.0%	49.5%	—
1982 Q3	208	173	35	16.8%	85.7%	53.9%	—
1982 Q2	210	180	30	14.3%	66.7%	52.5%	—
1982 Q1	181	147	34	18.8%	40.0%	52.1%	—
1981 Q4	186	143	43	23.1%	83.3%	52.0%	—
1981 Q3	203	162	41	20.2%	42.9%	38.2%	—
1981 Q2	321	253	68	21.2%	83.3%	32.7%	—
1981 Q1	264	212	52	19.7%	77.8%	61.3%	—
1980 Q4	260	193	67	25.8%	46.7%	35.4%	—
1980 Q3	249	195	54	21.7%	54.5%	26.2%	—
1980 Q2	278	218	60	21.6%	27.3%	6.2%	—
1980 Q1	296	226	70	23.6%	50.0%	11.1%	—
1979 Q4	263	185	78	29.7%	63.6%	29.5%	—
1979 Q3	288	203	85	29.5%	63.6%	33.6%	—
1979 Q2	296	223	73	24.7%	50.0%	15.4%	—

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.

Reading

Refusal rate trend — last 40 quarters

Official statistics — is development moving through the system?

Quarterly history

🤖 Planning Agent