North West

St. Helens planning statistics

Householder applications decided in the year to June 2026, compared with the rest of England.

Search planning applications St. Helens council website

Within 8 weeks, no extension

77.0%

58th of 297

14.3 points faster than England

Granted

96.6%

47th of 297

6.1 points higher than England

Extension of time

23.0%

81st of 297

9.3 points lower than England

Decisions (12 months)

261

St. Helens decided 261 householder applications in the year to June 2026, granting 96.6%.

77.0% were decided within 8 weeks with no extension, against 62.7% across England (58th of 297 for speed).

A further 23.0% were decided under an extension of time agreed with the applicant.

That is down from 85.6% a year earlier.

How quickly decisions are made

St. Helens against England, share of householder decisions each quarter

Within 8 weeks, no extension
Extension of time
England, within 8 weeks

Source: MHCLG PS2, OGL v3. Chart: buildwiz.uk

Show data

Quarter	Within 8 weeks, no extension	Extension of time	England, within 8 weeks
2008 Q1	93.0%	0.0%	89.5%
2008 Q2	95.3%	0.0%	89.4%
2008 Q3	98.7%	0.0%	89.7%
2008 Q4	97.8%	0.0%	90.3%
2009 Q1	97.4%	0.0%	90.3%
2009 Q2	95.8%	0.0%	91.7%
2009 Q3	96.0%	0.0%	91.4%
2009 Q4	95.6%	0.0%	91.0%
2010 Q1	97.9%	0.0%	88.8%
2010 Q2	98.4%	0.0%	89.8%
2010 Q3	97.7%	0.0%	88.4%
2010 Q4	99.0%	0.0%	87.7%
2011 Q1	96.7%	0.0%	86.4%
2011 Q2	100.0%	0.0%	85.9%
2011 Q3	96.6%	0.0%	84.9%
2011 Q4	97.5%	0.0%	84.9%
2012 Q1	94.5%	0.0%	83.7%
2012 Q2	96.1%	0.0%	84.2%
2012 Q3	98.8%	0.0%	82.9%
2012 Q4	100.0%	0.0%	85.2%
2013 Q1	100.0%	0.0%	85.7%
2013 Q2	97.1%	0.0%	86.3%
2013 Q3	100.0%	0.0%	85.3%
2013 Q4	100.0%	0.0%	86.3%
2014 Q1	96.2%	0.0%	85.4%
2014 Q2	95.9%	0.0%	84.9%
2014 Q3	100.0%	0.0%	82.5%
2014 Q4	100.0%	0.0%	82.1%
2015 Q1	100.0%	0.0%	80.4%
2015 Q2	99.0%	0.0%	80.6%
2015 Q3	96.2%	0.0%	79.2%
2015 Q4	98.7%	0.0%	80.0%
2016 Q1	98.5%	0.0%	78.3%
2016 Q2	100.0%	0.0%	79.8%
2016 Q3	97.5%	0.0%	77.7%
2016 Q4	98.6%	0.0%	78.0%
2017 Q1	98.8%	0.0%	77.3%
2017 Q2	95.9%	1.7%	78.5%
2017 Q3	100.0%	0.0%	76.1%
2017 Q4	100.0%	0.0%	77.1%
2018 Q1	96.1%	1.3%	73.7%
2018 Q2	99.1%	0.0%	74.0%
2018 Q3	99.1%	0.9%	72.7%
2018 Q4	97.5%	2.5%	72.7%
2019 Q1	98.9%	1.1%	69.9%
2019 Q2	99.1%	0.9%	72.1%
2019 Q3	99.0%	1.0%	69.6%
2019 Q4	100.0%	0.0%	71.5%
2020 Q1	97.8%	2.2%	68.4%
2020 Q2	99.0%	1.0%	63.9%
2020 Q3	99.2%	0.8%	63.8%
2020 Q4	92.0%	8.0%	65.3%
2021 Q1	91.3%	8.7%	59.4%
2021 Q2	91.8%	7.6%	58.4%
2021 Q3	87.9%	12.1%	53.1%
2021 Q4	88.9%	11.1%	53.0%
2022 Q1	90.1%	9.9%	51.6%
2022 Q2	90.4%	8.8%	56.0%
2022 Q3	80.6%	18.4%	53.3%
2022 Q4	83.5%	15.5%	54.1%
2023 Q1	72.9%	25.7%	53.5%
2023 Q2	84.8%	12.7%	58.5%
2023 Q3	79.2%	20.8%	59.0%
2023 Q4	85.7%	14.3%	59.8%
2024 Q1	81.1%	17.0%	58.8%
2024 Q2	80.0%	20.0%	64.4%
2024 Q3	83.6%	16.4%	64.2%
2024 Q4	85.2%	14.8%	65.6%
2025 Q1	88.9%	11.1%	62.1%
2025 Q2	85.1%	14.9%	65.0%
2025 Q3	80.8%	19.2%	62.5%
2025 Q4	66.7%	33.3%	64.7%
2026 Q1	81.2%	18.8%	60.6%
2026 Q2	76.2%	23.8%	62.7%

Share of applications granted

St. Helens against England

St. Helens
England

Source: MHCLG PS2, OGL v3. Chart: buildwiz.uk

Show data

Quarter	St. Helens	England
2008 Q1	97.9%	85.1%
2008 Q2	91.8%	86.1%
2008 Q3	92.4%	86.3%
2008 Q4	93.3%	85.3%
2009 Q1	85.7%	85.9%
2009 Q2	90.6%	86.8%
2009 Q3	89.7%	87.4%
2009 Q4	90.3%	86.9%
2010 Q1	91.8%	87.0%
2010 Q2	94.6%	88.0%
2010 Q3	93.1%	87.7%
2010 Q4	95.2%	87.5%
2011 Q1	95.1%	87.9%
2011 Q2	96.3%	88.5%
2011 Q3	97.8%	88.3%
2011 Q4	91.4%	88.3%
2012 Q1	95.9%	88.2%
2012 Q2	98.0%	89.2%
2012 Q3	98.8%	89.0%
2012 Q4	97.4%	88.9%
2013 Q1	96.7%	89.8%
2013 Q2	94.2%	90.6%
2013 Q3	94.7%	90.3%
2013 Q4	94.3%	89.6%
2014 Q1	98.7%	89.8%
2014 Q2	95.9%	90.5%
2014 Q3	98.6%	90.0%
2014 Q4	96.2%	89.2%
2015 Q1	96.8%	89.3%
2015 Q2	99.0%	90.2%
2015 Q3	95.2%	90.0%
2015 Q4	97.3%	89.2%
2016 Q1	94.1%	90.0%
2016 Q2	97.4%	90.3%
2016 Q3	100.0%	90.2%
2016 Q4	97.3%	89.7%
2017 Q1	96.3%	89.9%
2017 Q2	95.9%	90.5%
2017 Q3	96.8%	90.0%
2017 Q4	95.2%	90.1%
2018 Q1	94.8%	90.5%
2018 Q2	94.5%	91.0%
2018 Q3	100.0%	91.2%
2018 Q4	93.7%	90.5%
2019 Q1	94.4%	90.3%
2019 Q2	95.4%	91.0%
2019 Q3	96.0%	90.6%
2019 Q4	95.3%	89.8%
2020 Q1	95.6%	89.9%
2020 Q2	96.9%	90.2%
2020 Q3	99.2%	90.6%
2020 Q4	98.5%	90.3%
2021 Q1	99.1%	90.9%
2021 Q2	93.0%	91.2%
2021 Q3	93.6%	91.0%
2021 Q4	93.8%	90.1%
2022 Q1	96.3%	90.0%
2022 Q2	96.5%	90.4%
2022 Q3	88.8%	89.8%
2022 Q4	95.1%	89.4%
2023 Q1	91.4%	89.3%
2023 Q2	96.2%	89.2%
2023 Q3	95.8%	88.6%
2023 Q4	92.9%	88.2%
2024 Q1	94.3%	88.2%
2024 Q2	95.7%	89.1%
2024 Q3	95.1%	89.4%
2024 Q4	95.1%	88.6%
2025 Q1	96.3%	89.3%
2025 Q2	97.7%	90.4%
2025 Q3	94.9%	90.1%
2025 Q4	94.1%	90.1%
2026 Q1	100.0%	90.6%
2026 Q2	96.8%	91.0%

How long decisions took

Householder decisions over the last 12 months

Within 8 weeks77.0%
8 to 13 weeks0.0%
13 to 26 weeks0.0%
Over 26 weeks0.0%
Extension of time agreed23.0%

Source: MHCLG PS2, OGL v3. Chart: buildwiz.uk

Show data

Time taken	Decisions
Within 8 weeks	201
8 to 13 weeks	0
13 to 26 weeks	0
Over 26 weeks	0
Extension of time agreed	60

Appeals

Decided: 2
Allowed: 0.0%
Median wait: 12 weeks

Householder appeals to the Planning Inspectorate decided in the same 12 months. England: 34.4% allowed.

Local constraints

St. Helens has published 14 conservation areas.
St. Helens has not published Article 4 data to the national planning data platform.

Both can remove permitted development rights. Not every council has published its data yet, so check with the council before relying on permitted development.

Next steps for your extension

Compare every council · How we calculate these figures

Get notified when new sections land

We're publishing new guides as they're finished. Join the list to find out when yours is ready.