LPA Profile

What we hold on a single planning authority: appeal behaviour, what they refuse on, which policies they cite, and how current their local plan is. For the national league table and 47-year statistical history, see Council Performance. New: which refusal reasons survive appeal here — measured from real Inspectorate decision letters.

Winchester City Council

GSS E07000094 · Portal: idox (ok) · council register

Applications we hold
2,559
2025-01-08 – 2026-10-20
Refusal rate (our sample)
4.9%
126 of 2,559 — a sample, not the register
Appeals overturned
27.72%
51 allowed of 223 appeals
Local plan age
—
adoption date not published

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
949
in the window
Applications decided
854
in the window
Approval rate
93.3%
797 granted, 57 refused · national median refusal 11.6%
Refusal rate rank 35 of 164 district councils (1 = fewest refusals) · peer median 11.4%
Decided within time
92.4%
rank 136 of 307 reporting authorities · national median 91.4%
Rank 75 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
TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time
Major2483.3%100.0%
Minor15783.4%86.0%
Other67396.0%—
of which householder50497.0%94.0%
"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
01533052024 Q3: 287 received2024 Q3: 305 decided2024 Q32024 Q4: 238 received2024 Q4: 229 decided2025 Q1: 289 received2025 Q1: 253 decided2025 Q2: 225 received2025 Q2: 250 decided2025 Q3: 250 received2025 Q3: 225 decided2025 Q4: 228 received2025 Q4: 233 decided2026 Q1: 258 received2026 Q1: 210 decided2026 Q2: 213 received2026 Q2: 186 decided2026 Q2
▬ received   ▬ decided
Housing Delivery Test
HDT 2025 measurement, homes delivered against requirement over 2022/23 to 2024/25
174%
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 (E07000094). 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)25 Oct 2026 · 68,583 rows nationallyLive tables
Planning application flow (PS1)MHCLG1979 Q2 to 2026 Q2 (189 quarters)25 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. Full 47-year history and national ranking →

What this authority refuses on

Classified from the reasons in decision notices we hold for this council. Categories can overlap — one reason often engages more than one issue.

Objection typeReasons
Trees and landscape2

How this council decides

Measured against the published determination target on 2,520 decisions. Average window from valid date to target: 52 days (the statutory period is 56 days for most applications, 91 for majors).

33%
before deadline
(4+ days before target)
22%
on deadline day
(final 3 days)
44%
late
(after the target)
59
average days
valid date to decision

This authority is mixed: a substantial share of decisions land after the statutory target, so treat the target as indicative.

Which day applications are submitted, validated and decided

Submitted (n=2,520) Validated (n=2,520) Decided (n=2,520)
Mon
24.6%
19%
19.1%
Tue
20.4%
27.2%
21.3%
Wed
18.8%
18.7%
20%
Thu
19.1%
19%
19.8%
Fri
17%
15.5%
19.7%

An even working week is 20% a day. Amber marks a day carrying 26% or more. Submitted is the date the council received the application; validated is the date it was made valid and the clock started. All three columns use the same applications, so they can be read across.

By application type

TypeDecisionsBefore deadlineOn deadline dayLateAverage days
Full 86521%32%47%70
Trees 69244%9%47%50
Conditions 45252%9%40%57
Outline 19128%44%28%49
Amendment 11624%26%50%49
Heritage 11519%31%50%71
Advertising 5020%38%42%63
Other 2020%65%15%52

What "after the target" means. Published data cannot distinguish an agreed extension of time from a target that was simply missed — both appear the same way. This measures when the decision was issued relative to the statutory target, and nothing more. Deadline data comes from the council's own published determination target, captured where its portal exposes it (Idox councils and the London Datahub).

Policies most often cited in refusals

HE5 · 1

Case officers in our data

OfficerApplicationsDecided ApprovedRefusedWithdrawn Approval rateAverage daysLate Mostly handlesSeen
Danielle Warren 5 5 0 2 1 0% 48 — Tree In A Conservation Area (3) May 2026 – Oct 2026
Joe Toole 4 4 2 2 0 50% 83 — Full Application (2) Apr 2026 – Oct 2026
Cameron Taylor 3 3 0 3 0 0% 222 — Householder Application (1) Nov 2025 – Oct 2026
Mrs Megan Osborn 3 3 1 0 0 100% 39 — Non-material Amendment (2) Jun 2026 – Sep 2026
Rob Callow 3 3 2 1 0 67% 56 — Householder Application (3) Jun 2026 – Oct 2026
Sasha Gillings 3 3 1 2 0 33% 54 — Householder Application (1) Aug 2026 – Oct 2026
Cameron Finch 2 2 1 1 0 50% 40 — Details in Compliance (1) Jul 2026 – Oct 2026
Charlotte Smith 2 2 2 0 0 100% 95 — Householder Application (2) May 2026 – Aug 2026
Catherine Watson 1 1 1 0 0 100% 26 — Agricultural Prior Notification (1) Sep 2026 – Sep 2026
Matthew Rutledge 1 1 1 0 0 100% 41 — Details in Compliance (1) Sep 2026 – Oct 2026
Melita Antunovic Jeffries 1 1 1 0 0 100% 28 — Agricultural Prior Notification (1) Aug 2026 – Sep 2026
Nicola Martin 1 1 1 0 0 100% 90 — Details in Compliance (1) May 2026 – Aug 2026

Counts come from the applications we have scraped, which is a fraction of each officer's caseload. Approval rate is approvals as a share of approvals plus refusals; withdrawn and other outcomes are excluded. Average days runs from the validated date to the decision. Late is the share decided after the published determination target, shown only where we hold a target for at least five of that officer's decisions. "Mostly handles" is the application type they appear on most often. Treat as a sample of who is active, not as a performance measure of an individual: a caseload of majors runs longer than one of householder applications. Click a name for the full officer profile.

Agents most active here

Agent / firmApplicationsDecided ApprovedRefusedWithdrawn Success rateAverage days Mostly bringsSeen
Merritt Tree Specialists Ltd 76 76 75 1 0 99% 43 Trees (76) Jan 2025 – Aug 2026
C&D Trees 69 69 69 0 0 100% 44 Trees (69) Feb 2025 – Jul 2026
MDT Design 40 40 37 3 0 93% 60 Full (34) Jan 2025 – Aug 2026
C&D Trees Ltd 37 37 37 0 0 100% 46 Trees (37) Jan 2025 – Aug 2026
Arbor Call Ltd 27 27 26 1 0 96% 52 Trees (27) Feb 2025 – Jul 2026
Savills 25 25 25 0 0 100% 80 Conditions (22) Jun 2025 – Jul 2026
C3 Design Limited 25 25 24 1 0 96% 59 Full (15) Jan 2025 – Jul 2026
JEM MUSSELWHITE LTD 25 25 22 3 0 88% 66 Full (19) Jan 2025 – Aug 2026
T2 architects 21 21 19 2 0 90% 53 Full (10) Jan 2025 – Jun 2026
Southern Planning Practice 19 19 18 1 0 95% 88 Full (8) Jan 2025 – Jul 2026
The Home Shop 19 19 19 0 0 100% 57 Full (17) Jan 2025 – Aug 2026
CMCdesign 19 19 18 1 0 95% 62 Full (15) Jan 2025 – Aug 2026

Success rate is approvals as a share of approvals plus refusals; withdrawn and other outcomes are excluded, so an agent who withdraws rather than takes a refusal will look stronger than the raw numbers suggest. Average days runs from the validated date to the decision. "Mostly brings" is the application type the firm appears on most often, which explains much of the difference: tree works and conditions discharge are approved far more often than new build. Counts are from the applications we have scraped, not the firm's full workload.

Development plan

Local Plan Part 1 - Joint Core Strategy
Adoption date not published in the national register · plan period 2011-01-01–2031-01-01
Plan documents

National statistics for this authority →

Councils with data on file

Charnwood (3929) Leeds (3678) Dorset (3579) Buckinghamshire (3492) Bromley (3100) Barnet (2921) Durham (2838) Winchester (2559) BCP (2511) Croydon (2494) Bath (2469) Ealing (2419) Westminster (2278) Cotswold (2200) Bradford (2185) Dudley (2170) Islington (2163) Brent (2153) Newcastle upon Tyne (2124) Cornwall (2084) Chelmsford (2081) Carmarthenshire (2023) Lambeth (2022) Bexley (2013)

On the numbers. The refusal rate, officers and agents here are computed from the applications PlanningCore has collected for this authority — for most councils that is a recent sample rather than the full register, and the date range above tells you which. The appeal overturn rate comes from Planning Inspectorate decisions and covers a much longer period. Use the national statistics page for complete, official volumes.

About this tool: LPA Profile

Deep-dive authority analysis — approval rates by type, refusal reason clustering, appeal overturn rates, average decision times, and strictness rankings.

When to use it

Use to understand how your LPA behaves. Every council has different tendencies — some are design-focused, some are policy-strict, some are more pragmatic.

Policy and guidance it draws on

MHCLG planning statistics, appeal decision analysis

Part of Authority Intelligence

Use these tools to understand how your Local Planning Authority behaves — what they approve, what they refuse, how often appeals succeed, and what strategy gives you the best chance. This is behavioural intelligence, not just policy research.

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Guidance to help you prepare — not formal planning advice. Check the current policy text and your council's local plan before relying on it.

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