Planiverse / Authorities / Bolton

Bolton

In the last 12 months, 81.9% of householder applications were approved in Bolton (238 decided). A typical householder decision takes about nine weeks (median 63 days).

Full planning applications: 71.3% approved (171 decided).

Across all application types on record (2023-01-31–2026-06-12): 83.6% of 3,190 decisions approved.

4,471Total applications
2,668Approved
522Refused
102Withdrawn
63Pending
83.6%Approval rate (all types)
Check a property in Bolton
Decision Level
4,030Not Available
391Delegated Decision
11Committee Decision
By Development Category
CategoryTotalApprovedRefusedApproval rate
Full Planning Application 1,405 1,157 248
82.3%
Householder 532 440 92
82.7%
Tree Works (TPO) 467 418 49
89.5%
Certificate of Lawfulness (Proposed) 176 146 30
83.0%
Householder (Prior Approval) 128 94 34
73.4%
Non-Material Amendment (S96a) 100 87 13
87.0%
Advertisement Consent 93 78 15
83.9%
Tree Works (Conservation Area) 74 74 0
100.0%
Listed Building Consent 52 41 11
78.8%
Variation/Removal of Conditions (S73) 30 26 4
86.7%
Prior Approval (Other) 30 24 6
80.0%
Certificate of Lawfulness (Existing) 25 17 8
68.0%
Telecommunications 13 12 1
92.3%
Permission in Principle 13 9 4
69.2%
Outline Planning 11 7 4
63.6%
PA -solar panels non domestic roofs 11 10 1
90.9%
Prior Approval (Class Q — Agricultural to Residential) 9 9 0
100.0%
Reserved Matters 8 8 0
100.0%
Prior Not - Agricult or Demo 28 days 7 7 0
100.0%
Change of Use 4 3 1
75.0%
Discharge of Conditions 2 1 1
50.0%
Quarterly Trend
QuarterDecidedApprovedApproval rate
2023-Q3 198 157
79.3%
2023-Q4 218 174
79.8%
2024-Q1 430 380
88.4%
2024-Q2 369 317
85.9%
2024-Q3 269 232
86.2%
2024-Q4 230 199
86.5%
2025-Q1 226 182
80.5%
2025-Q2 243 201
82.7%
2025-Q3 250 207
82.8%
2025-Q4 209 170
81.3%
2026-Q1 233 186
79.8%
2026-Q2 27 20
74.1%
By Ward
WardTotalApprovedRefusedApproval rate
Heaton, Lostock & Chew Moor 432 362 70
83.8%
Queens Park & Central 231 177 54
76.6%
Astley Bridge 214 165 49
77.1%
Bromley Cross 202 173 29
85.6%
Great Lever 175 147 28
84.0%
Smithills 163 129 34
79.1%
Hulton 155 128 27
82.6%
Halliwell 151 124 27
82.1%
Horwich North 150 136 14
90.7%
Bradshaw 148 124 24
83.8%
Horwich South & Blackrod 140 122 18
87.1%
Westhoughton North & Hunger Hill 131 114 17
87.0%
Planning guides

Not sure what you can build without planning permission? See our guides to permitted development rights and Article 4 directions.