← All authorities

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

South West · E06000058 · 29 quarters held (2019 Q2 – 2026 Q2)

Decisions
2,189
2025 Q3 – 2026 Q2
Refusal rate
18.3%
higher than 85% of authorities
Majors in time
76.9%
threshold 60%
Minors in time
80.2%
threshold 70%
Householder in time
91.4%
no formal threshold
Delegated
97.6%
decisions not to committee
Appellant win rate
28.5%
265 allowed of 930 decided
Decisions overturned
1.9%
quality threshold 10%

Refusal rate trend — last 29 quarters

2019 Q2 → 2026 Q2 · peak 25.3%

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
2,080
in the window
Applications decided
2,189
in the window
Approval rate
81.7%
1,788 granted, 401 refused · national median refusal 11.6%
Refusal rate rank 55 of 63 unitary authorities (1 = fewest refusals) · peer median 10.6%
Decided within time
88.2%
rank 198 of 307 reporting authorities · national median 91.4%
Rank 38 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
Major8575.3%76.9%
Minor75575.1%80.2%
Other1,34985.8%—
of which householder1,13187.2%91.4%
"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
03316622024 Q3: 614 received2024 Q3: 586 decided2024 Q32024 Q4: 585 received2024 Q4: 576 decided2025 Q1: 662 received2025 Q1: 472 decided2025 Q2: 521 received2025 Q2: 616 decided2025 Q3: 548 received2025 Q3: 541 decided2025 Q4: 516 received2025 Q4: 521 decided2026 Q1: 507 received2026 Q1: 566 decided2026 Q2: 509 received2026 Q2: 561 decided2026 Q2
▬ received   ▬ decided
Housing Delivery Test
HDT 2025 measurement, homes delivered against requirement over 2022/23 to 2024/25
35%
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 (E06000058). Missing values are shown as "—" and are never estimated or filled from another period.
DatasetPublisherCovers this authorityLoadedOfficial source
Planning application decisions (PS2)MHCLG2019 Q2 to 2026 Q2 (29 quarters)18 Oct 2026 · 68,583 rows nationallyLive tables
Planning application flow (PS1)MHCLG2019 Q2 to 2026 Q2 (29 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 561 465 96 17.1% 100.0% 81.6% 509
2026 Q1 566 462 104 18.4% 100.0% 82.5% 507
2025 Q4 521 409 112 21.5% 33.3% 85.7% 516
2025 Q3 541 452 89 16.5% 66.7% 69.1% 548
2025 Q2 616 529 87 14.1% 50.0% 60.5% 521
2025 Q1 472 400 72 15.3% 100.0% 75.0% 662
2024 Q4 576 499 77 13.4% 66.7% 75.8% 585
2024 Q3 586 500 86 14.7% 50.0% 83.3% 614
2024 Q2 694 558 136 19.6% 100.0% 66.1% 646
2024 Q1 610 463 147 24.1% 100.0% 70.5% 684
2023 Q4 636 475 161 25.3% 60.0% 62.6% 661
2023 Q3 692 563 129 18.6% 66.7% 54.1% 672
2023 Q2 667 567 100 15.0% 66.7% 63.9% 648
2023 Q1 602 467 135 22.4% 100.0% 71.7% 778
2022 Q4 781 607 174 22.3% 55.6% 73.9% 713
2022 Q3 745 584 161 21.6% 77.8% 74.4% 819
2022 Q2 849 704 145 17.1% 85.7% 74.2% 829
2022 Q1 776 668 108 13.9% 85.7% 68.4% 795
2021 Q4 925 785 140 15.1% 75.0% 45.9% 754
2021 Q3 834 744 90 10.8% 50.0% 56.5% 816
2021 Q2 787 678 109 13.9% 58.3% 62.9% 948
2021 Q1 756 669 87 11.5% 60.0% 67.1% 946
2020 Q4 740 619 121 16.4% 30.0% 64.1% 804
2020 Q3 682 585 97 14.2% 50.0% 45.5% 720
2020 Q2 418 356 62 14.8% 75.0% 64.3% 590
2020 Q1 602 500 102 16.9% 85.7% 78.6% 710
2019 Q4 676 548 128 18.9% 75.0% 79.1% 700
2019 Q3 756 645 111 14.7% 78.6% 82.4% 753
2019 Q2 713 610 103 14.4% 71.4% 85.4% 775

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.

Ask Planning Agent
🧭Guide me