Planning permission in Hackney
What actually happens to planning applications decided by London Borough of Hackney: approval rates, decision times, appeal odds and the development plan they are judged against. Figures cover 20 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 Hackney?
Half of decided applications took 37 days or less from validation to decision. The middle 50% of applications took between 20 and 55 days, and 75.0% were decided inside the 8-week statutory target for minor applications. Complex or contested schemes take longer.
The Hackney local plan
Decisions are made against the London Plan (2021), the Hackney Local Plan 2033 (LP33, adopted July 2020) and the North London Waste Plan (2022). Around Hackney Wick and the Olympic Park the London Legacy Development Corporation Local Plan 2020 to 2036 still applies, because planning powers only returned to the borough in December 2024. There are no made neighbourhood plans.
Two area action plans are well advanced: Stamford Hill has been through examination and is awaiting the inspector's final report, and Future Shoreditch is at examination with hearings expected in autumn 2026. A new borough wide local plan is targeted for 2029.
What tends to shape decisions here: Hackney has 35 conservation areas and article 4 directions that remove the right to convert commercial premises to housing across the Central Activities Zone, the town centres and the designated industrial areas, so permitted development routes that work elsewhere in London often do not work here. Tall buildings, protected views, employment land and canal side sites are recurring points of difficulty.
If Hackney says no: appeal odds
Between 2021 and 2025 the Planning Inspectorate overturned 41.8% of appealed Hackney refusals (218 of 522 decided appeals). The national average is 31.1%. More detail, including how Hackney ranks nationally: planning appeals in Hackney.
Source: decisions published on the London Borough of Hackney 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 Approval rate = approvals divided by approvals plus refusals; withdrawn applications and other outcomes are excluded.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 76 Hackney applications in total. Plan facts as of July 2026; always check the council's own pages for the latest position.
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