Planning permission in Greenwich
What actually happens to planning applications decided by Royal Borough of Greenwich: approval rates, decision times, appeal odds and the development plan they are judged against. Figures cover 6,764 applications decided in the two years to July 2026, from the council's public planning register.
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How long does planning permission take in Greenwich?
Half of decided applications took 56 days or less from validation to decision. The middle 50% of applications took between 43 and 59 days, and 71.7% were decided inside the 8-week statutory target for minor applications. Complex or contested schemes take longer.
The Greenwich local plan
Decisions are made against the London Plan (2021) and the Royal Greenwich Local Plan: Core Strategy with Detailed Policies (2014), plus the Lee Neighbourhood Plan in that area.
A new borough-wide local plan is at an early Regulation 18 draft stage (late 2025) and carries limited weight for now.
What tends to shape decisions here: Housing delivery and land supply both sit well below target, so the tilted balance applies to most housing schemes. The borough is heritage-sensitive, with the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, a dedicated tall buildings policy, Metropolitan Open Land and significant Thames flood risk.
If Greenwich says no: appeal odds
Between 2021 and 2025 the Planning Inspectorate overturned 37.1% of appealed Greenwich refusals (203 of 547 decided appeals). The national average is 31.1%. More detail, including how Greenwich ranks nationally: planning appeals in Greenwich.
Source: decisions published on the Royal Borough of Greenwich public planning register, two years to July 2026. Approval rate = approvals divided by approvals plus refusals; withdrawn applications and other outcomes are excluded. We track 22,374 Greenwich applications in total. Plan facts as of July 2026; always check the council's own pages for the latest position.
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