West Lancashire

North West · E07000127 · 189 quarters held (1979 Q2 – 2026 Q2)

Decisions

543

2025 Q3 – 2026 Q2

Refusal rate

19.0%

higher than 87% of authorities

Majors in time

50.0%

threshold 60%

Minors in time

71.4%

threshold 70%

Householder in time

68.9%

no formal threshold

Delegated

95.8%

decisions not to committee

Appellant win rate

32.6%

69 allowed of 212 decided

Decisions overturned

1.8%

quality threshold 10%

Refusal rate trend — last 40 quarters

2016 Q3 → 2026 Q2 · peak 24.2%

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

583

in the window

Applications decided

543

in the window

Approval rate

81.0%

440 granted, 103 refused · national median refusal 11.6%

Refusal rate rank 147 of 164 district councils (1 = fewest refusals) · peer median 11.4%

Decided within time

67.5%

rank 291 of 307 reporting authorities · national median 91.4%

Rank 155 of 164 district councils · peer median 91.9%

Peer ranks compare only district councils 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	13	84.6%	50.0%
Minor	146	78.8%	71.4%
Other	384	81.8%	—
of which householder	307	85.7%	68.9%

"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

279%

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 (E07000127). 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)	25 Oct 2026 · 68,583 rows nationally	Live tables
Planning application flow (PS1)	MHCLG	1979 Q2 to 2026 Q2 (189 quarters)	25 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	154	131	23	14.9%	100.0%	50.0%	155
2026 Q1	119	97	22	18.5%	—	77.8%	160
2025 Q4	125	99	26	20.8%	0.0%	66.7%	127
2025 Q3	145	113	32	22.1%	—	85.7%	141
2025 Q2	175	152	23	13.1%	—	73.3%	139
2025 Q1	133	113	20	15.0%	—	87.5%	192
2024 Q4	173	152	21	12.1%	100.0%	85.7%	167
2024 Q3	161	136	25	15.5%	100.0%	80.0%	164
2024 Q2	153	123	30	19.6%	100.0%	84.2%	178
2024 Q1	186	156	30	16.1%	—	56.8%	174
2023 Q4	156	136	20	12.8%	—	61.9%	186
2023 Q3	178	151	27	15.2%	—	50.0%	181
2023 Q2	157	127	30	19.1%	33.3%	47.6%	169
2023 Q1	189	154	35	18.5%	0.0%	28.6%	183
2022 Q4	181	159	22	12.2%	33.3%	33.3%	190
2022 Q3	201	156	45	22.4%	33.3%	32.0%	187
2022 Q2	230	178	52	22.6%	66.7%	50.0%	206
2022 Q1	211	160	51	24.2%	50.0%	77.3%	223
2021 Q4	220	173	47	21.4%	0.0%	57.1%	241
2021 Q3	243	214	29	11.9%	—	70.6%	236
2021 Q2	226	189	37	16.4%	100.0%	81.3%	291
2021 Q1	233	205	28	12.0%	100.0%	96.8%	248
2020 Q4	201	172	29	14.4%	100.0%	89.3%	241
2020 Q3	170	137	33	19.4%	100.0%	87.0%	194
2020 Q2	182	152	30	16.5%	100.0%	78.8%	166
2020 Q1	180	157	23	12.8%	0.0%	87.1%	204
2019 Q4	187	170	17	9.1%	100.0%	89.3%	209
2019 Q3	217	184	33	15.2%	66.7%	89.5%	203
2019 Q2	204	176	28	13.7%	100.0%	82.9%	245
2019 Q1	183	152	31	16.9%	100.0%	86.2%	196
2018 Q4	218	172	46	21.1%	100.0%	87.8%	224
2018 Q3	198	170	28	14.1%	100.0%	88.5%	224
2018 Q2	217	179	38	17.5%	100.0%	88.7%	237
2018 Q1	193	157	36	18.7%	50.0%	86.4%	229
2017 Q4	210	185	25	11.9%	—	90.3%	207
2017 Q3	235	194	41	17.4%	100.0%	90.0%	209
2017 Q2	207	176	31	15.0%	100.0%	66.7%	227
2017 Q1	205	180	25	12.2%	66.7%	93.1%	242
2016 Q4	187	156	31	16.6%	33.3%	95.3%	211
2016 Q3	216	178	38	17.6%	83.3%	86.0%	198
2016 Q2	252	215	37	14.7%	100.0%	71.0%	263
2016 Q1	169	145	24	14.2%	77.8%	62.3%	239
2015 Q4	222	160	62	27.9%	100.0%	67.1%	205
2015 Q3	187	143	44	23.5%	100.0%	66.2%	231
2015 Q2	232	190	42	18.1%	100.0%	72.2%	247
2015 Q1	200	149	51	25.5%	62.5%	80.9%	262
2014 Q4	219	174	45	20.5%	44.4%	70.6%	233
2014 Q3	236	206	30	12.7%	66.7%	70.0%	271
2014 Q2	210	176	34	16.2%	100.0%	75.7%	276
2014 Q1	201	152	34	16.9%	66.7%	72.2%	246
2013 Q4	242	185	43	17.8%	75.0%	82.4%	255
2013 Q3	216	163	25	11.6%	77.8%	84.6%	266
2013 Q2	245	190	35	14.3%	50.0%	75.0%	286
2013 Q1	198	148	27	13.6%	80.0%	75.9%	255
2012 Q4	222	172	32	14.4%	33.3%	73.1%	223
2012 Q3	205	168	17	8.3%	80.0%	82.1%	278
2012 Q2	258	184	42	16.3%	55.6%	81.3%	270
2012 Q1	189	139	29	15.3%	22.2%	85.5%	278
2011 Q4	250	182	41	16.4%	61.5%	84.4%	235
2011 Q3	229	167	31	13.5%	33.3%	77.9%	267
2011 Q2	273	187	42	15.4%	28.6%	79.0%	248
2011 Q1	183	143	28	15.3%	83.3%	84.0%	299
2010 Q4	268	190	46	17.2%	85.7%	68.7%	242
2010 Q3	250	185	34	13.6%	50.0%	77.2%	312
2010 Q2	232	164	37	15.9%	71.4%	80.0%	253
2010 Q1	233	175	33	14.2%	50.0%	75.4%	278
2009 Q4	224	166	31	13.8%	33.3%	78.8%	262
2009 Q3	225	175	29	12.9%	50.0%	87.1%	276
2009 Q2	233	175	33	14.2%	50.0%	75.4%	278
2009 Q1	241	172	37	15.4%	80.0%	88.0%	287
2008 Q4	283	215	48	17.0%	44.4%	69.3%	273
2008 Q3	292	219	73	25.0%	42.9%	87.1%	307
2008 Q2	282	229	50	17.7%	44.4%	59.2%	307
2008 Q1	238	205	28	11.8%	78.6%	61.8%	310
2007 Q4	351	300	48	13.7%	30.8%	63.5%	321
2007 Q3	381	329	51	13.4%	84.6%	67.4%	413
2007 Q2	304	255	44	14.5%	30.0%	73.9%	360
2007 Q1	273	227	44	16.1%	76.9%	85.3%	382
2006 Q4	332	280	48	14.5%	60.0%	82.8%	300
2006 Q3	333	272	53	15.9%	37.5%	86.7%	305
2006 Q2	386	328	53	13.7%	69.2%	76.0%	362
2006 Q1	281	228	48	17.1%	75.0%	69.1%	361
2005 Q4	381	325	51	13.4%	81.8%	69.2%	323
2005 Q3	410	338	66	16.1%	45.5%	73.0%	376
2005 Q2	350	295	52	14.9%	0.0%	55.4%	344
2005 Q1	285	241	41	14.4%	60.0%	75.3%	380
2004 Q4	384	323	60	15.6%	75.0%	58.7%	331
2004 Q3	386	339	44	11.4%	50.0%	76.3%	410
2004 Q2	437	369	63	14.4%	50.0%	80.2%	424
2004 Q1	339	291	46	13.6%	66.7%	60.6%	422
2003 Q4	344	287	56	16.3%	33.3%	69.6%	267
2003 Q3	435	365	68	15.6%	33.3%	69.4%	380
2003 Q2	379	309	65	17.2%	45.5%	63.7%	461
2003 Q1	315	271	42	13.3%	30.0%	42.9%	352
2002 Q4	299	272	25	8.4%	60.0%	56.3%	314
2002 Q3	316	296	18	5.7%	12.5%	51.8%	314
2002 Q2	357	333	21	5.9%	33.3%	50.9%	373
2002 Q1	285	255	27	9.5%	45.5%	28.6%	357
2001 Q4	247	224	19	7.7%	16.7%	41.6%	302
2001 Q3	306	287	19	6.2%	33.3%	43.0%	297
2001 Q2	295	274	16	5.4%	20.0%	41.0%	285
2001 Q1	0	0	0	—	—	—	0
2000 Q4	220	198	18	8.2%	75.0%	51.3%	241
2000 Q3	261	236	23	8.8%	36.4%	42.7%	312
2000 Q2	292	278	12	4.1%	66.7%	59.8%	322
2000 Q1	286	256	29	10.1%	40.0%	49.5%	299
1999 Q4	225	218	6	2.7%	37.5%	50.6%	249
1999 Q3	264	249	15	5.7%	66.7%	47.0%	251
1999 Q2	296	273	22	7.4%	50.0%	52.2%	303
1999 Q1	230	204	24	10.4%	50.0%	39.8%	291
1998 Q4	250	230	20	8.0%	28.6%	46.2%	254
1998 Q3	257	238	17	6.6%	57.1%	51.6%	271
1998 Q2	266	230	36	13.5%	100.0%	50.0%	278
1998 Q1	224	207	17	7.6%	66.7%	45.3%	277
1997 Q4	253	222	28	11.1%	66.7%	53.3%	230
1997 Q3	235	216	18	7.7%	0.0%	52.6%	260
1997 Q2	259	230	27	10.4%	62.5%	45.5%	300
1997 Q1	261	225	35	13.4%	50.0%	42.5%	278
1996 Q4	303	270	31	10.2%	33.3%	52.1%	255
1996 Q3	218	196	20	9.2%	33.3%	47.0%	282
1996 Q2	276	245	27	9.8%	83.3%	44.8%	321
1996 Q1	303	293	10	3.3%	16.7%	54.9%	—
1995 Q4	362	345	17	4.7%	40.0%	60.2%	—
1995 Q3	424	402	22	5.2%	37.5%	59.1%	—
1995 Q2	396	385	11	2.8%	33.3%	64.5%	—
1995 Q1	354	335	19	5.4%	25.0%	55.5%	—
1994 Q4	393	362	31	7.9%	16.7%	48.3%	—
1994 Q3	391	357	34	8.7%	0.0%	58.0%	—
1994 Q2	434	392	42	9.7%	0.0%	62.7%	—
1994 Q1	422	386	36	8.5%	33.3%	49.3%	—
1993 Q4	406	377	29	7.1%	58.3%	51.7%	—
1993 Q3	355	337	18	5.1%	50.0%	59.3%	—
1993 Q2	460	411	49	10.7%	46.2%	57.8%	—
1993 Q1	345	316	29	8.4%	60.0%	43.1%	—
1992 Q4	371	331	40	10.8%	42.9%	41.4%	—
1992 Q3	399	364	35	8.8%	63.6%	42.1%	—
1992 Q2	409	363	46	11.2%	54.5%	46.8%	—
1992 Q1	410	351	59	14.4%	50.0%	45.9%	—
1991 Q4	393	346	47	12.0%	50.0%	42.0%	—
1991 Q3	389	342	47	12.1%	75.0%	45.3%	—
1991 Q2	454	397	57	12.6%	57.9%	52.4%	—
1991 Q1	441	374	67	15.2%	68.2%	43.9%	—
1990 Q4	459	385	74	16.1%	40.0%	47.5%	—
1990 Q3	436	360	76	17.4%	46.7%	55.5%	—
1990 Q2	560	470	90	16.1%	42.1%	47.8%	—
1990 Q1	551	458	93	16.9%	53.3%	41.0%	—
1989 Q4	556	452	104	18.7%	57.1%	38.1%	—
1989 Q3	600	502	98	16.3%	52.0%	35.3%	—
1989 Q2	655	516	139	21.2%	45.8%	32.2%	—
1989 Q1	613	473	140	22.8%	30.4%	32.3%	—
1988 Q4	578	472	106	18.3%	57.1%	32.1%	—
1988 Q3	620	507	113	18.2%	53.8%	28.2%	—
1988 Q2	513	427	86	16.8%	50.0%	25.5%	—
1988 Q1	539	458	81	15.0%	44.4%	36.3%	—
1987 Q4	474	403	71	15.0%	38.5%	46.1%	—
1987 Q3	618	528	90	14.6%	45.0%	45.7%	—
1987 Q2	496	429	67	13.5%	50.0%	42.8%	—
1987 Q1	496	420	76	15.3%	35.7%	47.1%	—
1986 Q4	469	407	62	13.2%	45.8%	44.7%	—
1986 Q3	581	496	85	14.6%	48.0%	49.8%	—
1986 Q2	554	457	97	17.5%	50.0%	43.8%	—
1986 Q1	368	323	45	12.2%	62.5%	44.2%	—
1985 Q4	379	317	62	16.4%	90.0%	69.0%	—
1985 Q3	393	337	56	14.2%	91.7%	68.2%	—
1985 Q2	443	379	64	14.4%	56.5%	36.8%	—
1985 Q1	360	317	43	11.9%	62.5%	44.0%	—
1984 Q4	365	305	60	16.4%	90.0%	68.4%	—
1984 Q3	367	313	54	14.7%	90.9%	68.1%	—
1984 Q2	402	347	55	13.7%	91.7%	70.5%	—
1984 Q1	369	315	54	14.6%	81.8%	66.9%	—
1983 Q4	363	307	56	15.4%	81.8%	68.9%	—
1983 Q3	370	316	54	14.6%	90.0%	67.4%	—
1983 Q2	386	331	55	14.2%	88.9%	65.8%	—
1983 Q1	327	280	47	14.4%	81.8%	66.2%	—
1982 Q4	273	232	41	15.0%	66.7%	48.7%	—
1982 Q3	342	294	48	14.0%	42.9%	56.4%	—
1982 Q2	428	377	51	11.9%	50.0%	37.3%	—
1982 Q1	310	261	49	15.8%	50.0%	57.9%	—
1981 Q4	290	249	41	14.1%	60.0%	49.6%	—
1981 Q3	296	251	45	15.2%	42.9%	54.1%	—
1981 Q2	522	422	100	19.2%	61.9%	44.5%	—
1981 Q1	380	302	78	20.5%	69.2%	52.1%	—
1980 Q4	345	287	58	16.8%	80.0%	50.0%	—
1980 Q3	441	358	83	18.8%	100.0%	58.6%	—
1980 Q2	410	343	67	16.3%	42.9%	39.3%	—
1980 Q1	447	360	87	19.5%	59.1%	55.0%	—
1979 Q4	416	334	82	19.7%	53.8%	57.7%	—
1979 Q3	401	329	72	18.0%	76.5%	49.2%	—
1979 Q2	366	320	46	12.6%	63.6%	50.3%	—

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.

West Lancashire

Refusal rate trend — last 40 quarters

Official statistics — is development moving through the system?

Quarterly history

🤖 Planning Agent