Council performance · official statistics · East of England
Watford approved 78.9% of the 526 planning applications it decided in 2025 Q2 – 2026 Q1, against a national figure of 87.1% — ranked 280 of 310 councils on approval rate.
Approval rate
78.9%
-8.2 pts vs national 87.1%
Decided on time
87.8%
-2.6 pts vs national 90.4%
Decisions
526
2025 Q2 – 2026 Q1
Rank on approval
#280
of 310 councils · top 90%
MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), release 202603 · 2025 Q2 – 2026 Q1. Approval rate = granted ÷ decisions. “Decided on time” = within the statutory period (8 weeks minor, 13 weeks major) or an agreed extension, the same definition MHCLG publishes.
A council that waves through extensions can still refuse most major schemes. The split is where the useful number usually lives.
| Type | Decisions | Approved | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major developments | 9 | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| Minor developments | 129 | 69.8% | 79.1% |
| Other (incl. householder, changes of use, adverts) | 388 | 81.4% | 90.5% |
| Householder (extensions, lofts, garages) | 0 | – | – |
Approval rate and share decided on time, by calendar year, against the national figure.
By calendar year · 2014–2026 (2026 partial: 1 of 4 quarters)
Hover or use the arrow keys for a year; every value is also in the table below. “On time” is blank for years before timeliness reporting began.
Calendar years, newest first. A year with fewer than four quarters reported is marked partial — compare its rates, not its volume.
| Year | Decisions | Volume | Approved | On time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026partial · 1 of 4 quarters | 116 | 75.0% | 94.8% | |
| 2025 | 522 | 79.1% | 84.7% | |
| 2024 | 517 | 78.3% | 86.3% | |
| 2023 | 545 | 76.7% | 97.3% | |
| 2022 | 719 |
350 applications received in Watford in the last 12 months, on a 500m grid: each active cell shaded by which fifth of the council’s activity it sits in. The counts per cell, each cell’s approval record and the brownfield sites inside it are on the paid scorecard.
Live applications in Watford
We scrape this council’s register several times a day. Search it free, with email alerts.
Every council ranked
Approval rate, share decided on time and volume for every English council.
Quarterly trends, the decision outlook by application type, the full development-pressure map with each cell's approval record, the agents filing and winning here, appeals, market and MEES exposure are on the council scorecard in every paid plan.
| 77.3% |
| 94.4% |
| 2021 | 810 | 64.1% | 95.9% |
| 2020 | 670 | 71.8% | 94.3% |
| 2019 | 719 | 69.0% | 93.6% |
| 2018 | 801 | 73.9% | 90.1% |
| 2017 | 762 | 77.6% | 94.5% |
| 2016 | 755 | 77.2% | 95.8% |
| 2015 | 751 | 78.4% | 95.7% |
| 2014 | 754 | 76.1% | 98.9% |
PlanNexus live planning applications · brownfield land registers · applications received last 12 months; decisions last 24 months. Applications without a geocoded location are not on the map.