Planning Appeal Statistics England: May 2026 | Planning Inspectorate Data
Monthly snapshot of planning appeal outcomes in England for May 2026, drawn from our analysis of Appeals Casework Portal (ACP) and the newer platform, the Appeals Service portal data.
David Robinson
Chartered Architect & Co-founder, Planning Appeals
This is an interim monthly snapshot of planning appeal outcomes in England for May 2026. It is drawn from our own analysis of Appeals Casework Portal (ACP) and Appeals Service portal data, and is not an official Planning Inspectorate (PINS) statistical release. It is intended to give practitioners an early read on the direction of appeal outcomes ahead of the next official quarterly publication. In May 2026 there were 691 section 78 appeals decided, with a headline allow rate of 30.5%.
Headline figures
Three figures summarise the month. The Inspectorate decided 691 section 78 appeals in May 2026, up 97 on April. The section 78 allow rate was 30.5%, down 2.3 percentage points on the previous month. The householder allow rate was 32.3%, down 3.4 percentage points on April. The month-on-month movements are modest and should be read as part of a longer trend rather than as a single-month signal.
By procedure
The headline allow rate continues to sit on top of a wide procedural spread. Appeals decided by written representations allowed at 28.4% in May 2026, while hearings allowed at 56.8% and inquiries at 60.0%. Written representations account for the large majority of decisions by volume, so the headline rate stays anchored close to the written representations figure. The gap between written representations and the hearing or inquiry routes remains substantial, and is consistent with the pattern seen across recent months. The inquiry sample in any single month is small, so the 60.0% figure is best read as directional.
Allow rate over time
Appeal volumes
s78 appeals
Householder appeals
Enforcement outcomes
Enforcement appeals follow a different pattern from section 78 cases. In May 2026 the recorded enforcement outcomes were 61 notices upheld, 69 varied, 25 quashed, and 19 where planning permission was granted. Taken together, upheld and varied outcomes account for the majority of enforcement decisions in the month. Outright quashing of a notice remains the less common outcome, while variation of a notice is frequent, which matters for how enforcement cases are prepared and what relief is realistically sought.
Methodology note
A few points on how these figures are produced:
- Data source. Figures are derived from Planning Appeals analysis of ACP and Appeals Service portal data, not from official PINS published statistics.
- Allow rate definition. The allow rate is the proportion of decided appeals that were allowed in the month.
- Standardisation. Figures are standardised from portal data and may differ from official PINS releases once those are published.
- Enforcement scope. Enforcement figures cover section 174 enforcement appeals and use the portal outcome categories of upheld, varied, quashed, and permission granted.
- Publication delay. Official PINS quarterly statistics are published some months in arrears. This monthly snapshot is intended to fill that gap with an early, unofficial read.
- Omitted measures. Appeals received and decision duration are not reported here, because they cannot yet be reliably derived from portal data for this period.
Search the underlying cases
Every appeal behind these figures is searchable on Planning Appeals, with the full inspector decision, the reasoning, and the local context. If you want to understand what is driving the May 2026 allow rate in your area or for your case type, the underlying decisions are the place to start.
Source: Planning Appeals analysis of ACP and Appeals Service portal data.
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Inspector reasoning
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Policy performance
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Historical allow rates, duration trends, procedure breakdowns, and case volume over time. The LPA table above is one year. The platform gives you the full picture.
Search the appeals behind these numbers
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Planning Appeals analysis of ACP and Appeals Service portal data