Planning permission in Ashford
What actually happens to planning applications decided by Ashford Borough Council: approval rates, decision times, appeal odds and the development plan they are judged against. Figures cover 3,966 applications decided in the two years to August 2026, from the council's public planning register.
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How long does planning permission take in Ashford?
Half of decided applications took 53 days or less from validation to decision. The middle 50% of applications took between 38 and 70 days, and 65.9% were decided inside the 8-week statutory target for minor applications. Complex or contested schemes take longer.
The Ashford local plan
The development plan is the Ashford Local Plan 2030 (adopted February 2019) together with the Chilmington Green Area Action Plan (2013), eight made neighbourhood plans, and the Kent minerals and waste plans prepared by Kent County Council.
A new Ashford Local Plan running to 2043 is in preparation but at an early stage, so it carries only limited weight as a material consideration. The 2030 plan remains the adopted development plan.
What tends to shape decisions here: The decisive constraint is nutrient neutrality in the River Stour catchment, which drains to Stodmarsh near Canterbury. Schemes that add homes or overnight accommodation need a nutrient budget and secured mitigation before permission can be granted, and because that is a habitats regulations bar it is not resolved by the planning balance. The council also accepts it cannot demonstrate a five year housing land supply, at about 3.6 years, and parts of the borough sit in the Kent Downs and High Weald National Landscapes.
If Ashford says no: appeal odds
Between 2021 and 2025 the Planning Inspectorate overturned 24.0% of appealed Ashford refusals (54 of 225 decided appeals). The national average is 31.1%. More detail, including how Ashford ranks nationally: planning appeals in Ashford.
Source: decisions published on the Ashford Borough Council public planning register, two years to August 2026. Approval rate = approvals divided by approvals plus refusals; withdrawn applications and other outcomes are excluded. We track 15,228 Ashford applications in total. Plan facts as of July 2026; always check the council's own pages for the latest position.
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