← All authorities

Dorset

South West · E06000059 · 29 quarters held (2019 Q2 – 2026 Q2)

Decisions
2,708
2025 Q3 – 2026 Q2
Refusal rate
8.3%
higher than 28% of authorities
Majors in time
100.0%
threshold 60%
Minors in time
90.5%
threshold 70%
Householder in time
96.5%
no formal threshold
Delegated
96.9%
decisions not to committee
Appellant win rate
28.6%
231 allowed of 807 decided
Decisions overturned
1.3%
quality threshold 10%

Refusal rate trend — last 29 quarters

2019 Q2 → 2026 Q2 · peak 13.2%

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
2,812
in the window
Applications decided
2,708
in the window
Approval rate
91.7%
2,483 granted, 225 refused · national median refusal 11.6%
Refusal rate rank 21 of 63 unitary authorities (1 = fewest refusals) · peer median 10.6%
Decided within time
93.7%
rank 117 of 307 reporting authorities · national median 91.4%
Rank 23 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
Major9288.0%100.0%
Minor74786.2%90.5%
Other1,86994.1%—
of which householder1,22295.7%96.5%
"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
04258492024 Q3: 849 received2024 Q3: 837 decided2024 Q32024 Q4: 735 received2024 Q4: 794 decided2025 Q1: 782 received2025 Q1: 666 decided2025 Q2: 688 received2025 Q2: 756 decided2025 Q3: 754 received2025 Q3: 699 decided2025 Q4: 692 received2025 Q4: 664 decided2026 Q1: 693 received2026 Q1: 662 decided2026 Q2: 673 received2026 Q2: 683 decided2026 Q2
▬ received   ▬ decided
Housing Delivery Test
HDT 2025 measurement, homes delivered against requirement over 2022/23 to 2024/25
88%
Action plan

Delivery 85–94%: the authority must publish an action plan. No presumption or buffer 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 (E06000059). 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 683 626 57 8.3% 100.0% 91.4% 673
2026 Q1 662 612 50 7.6% 100.0% 89.9% 693
2025 Q4 664 612 52 7.8% 100.0% 89.9% 692
2025 Q3 699 633 66 9.4% 100.0% 90.9% 754
2025 Q2 756 691 65 8.6% 100.0% 91.8% 688
2025 Q1 666 591 75 11.3% 80.0% 91.1% 782
2024 Q4 794 718 76 9.6% 100.0% 93.1% 735
2024 Q3 837 767 70 8.4% 100.0% 93.5% 849
2024 Q2 761 679 82 10.8% 100.0% 91.1% 813
2024 Q1 829 740 89 10.7% 93.3% 91.8% 815
2023 Q4 830 753 77 9.3% 87.5% 85.6% 872
2023 Q3 830 728 102 12.3% 80.0% 77.8% 897
2023 Q2 815 743 72 8.8% 100.0% 91.2% 945
2023 Q1 867 796 71 8.2% 100.0% 84.3% 985
2022 Q4 958 862 96 10.0% 63.6% 68.6% 807
2022 Q3 995 864 131 13.2% 77.8% 54.8% 1,028
2022 Q2 1,101 984 117 10.6% 80.0% 59.8% 1,111
2022 Q1 1,293 1,158 135 10.4% 37.5% 49.7% 1,102
2021 Q4 1,222 1,090 132 10.8% 50.0% 40.2% 1,160
2021 Q3 1,065 979 86 8.1% 0.0% 28.8% 1,056
2021 Q2 950 865 85 8.9% 81.8% 17.3% 819
2021 Q1 884 816 68 7.7% 100.0% 27.4% 651
2020 Q4 773 700 73 9.4% 100.0% 21.8% 740
2020 Q3 800 719 81 10.1% 40.0% 52.9% 796
2020 Q2 879 778 101 11.5% 80.0% 39.4% 786
2020 Q1 892 792 100 11.2% 62.5% 51.9% 955
2019 Q4 841 751 90 10.7% 66.7% 57.6% 884
2019 Q3 1,000 908 92 9.2% 66.7% 53.7% 1,041
2019 Q2 939 867 72 7.7% 71.4% 56.4% 1,043

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