Planning permission in Lewisham
What actually happens to planning applications decided by London Borough of Lewisham: approval rates, decision times, appeal odds and the development plan they are judged against. Figures cover 5,552 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 Lewisham?
Half of decided applications took 56 days or less from validation to decision. The middle 50% of applications took between 36 and 56 days, and 77.0% were decided inside the 8-week statutory target for minor applications. Complex or contested schemes take longer.
The Lewisham local plan
Decisions are made against the London Plan (2021) and the Lewisham Local Plan 2020 to 2040, adopted in July 2025, plus three made neighbourhood plans (Grove Park, Crofton Park and Honor Oak Park, and Lee).
The borough-wide plan is freshly adopted and carries full weight; no successor is in preparation.
What tends to shape decisions here: Housing delivery sits far below target (Housing Delivery Test around 32 percent), which engages the tilted balance regardless of land supply, and the newly adopted plan's claimed five year supply is finely balanced, leaving it open to challenge at appeal.
If Lewisham says no: appeal odds
Between 2021 and 2025 the Planning Inspectorate overturned 25.5% of appealed Lewisham refusals (102 of 400 decided appeals). The national average is 31.1%. More detail, including how Lewisham ranks nationally: planning appeals in Lewisham.
Source: decisions published on the London Borough of Lewisham 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 Approval rate = approvals divided by approvals plus refusals; withdrawn applications and other outcomes are excluded.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 20,828 Lewisham applications in total. Plan facts as of July 2026; always check the council's own pages for the latest position.
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