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Comparison of success rates for planning appeals in the West Midlands

There is significant variability across the local planning authorities in the West Midlands in their performance in defending planning appeals.  Appealfinder's comparison tables for the past 3 years of PINS statistics are below, revealing some uncomfortable truths about the likelihood of success for s78 planning appeals for appellants and local planning authorities alike.

LPAs with the highest and lowest planning appeal success rates

The LPAs in the West Midlands with the best records for successfully defending their s78 appeals in 2020/21 were Redditch and Tamworth with 0% or less of their appeals overturned/ allowed by the Planning Inspectorate (although with only 5 appeals each).  

The prize for greatest improvement in performance goes to North Warwickshire with only 8% allowed in the year ending March 2021 compared to 42% in 2020 and 53% in 2019.  Wolverhampton and Worcester also made significant improvements in their appeal success rates compared to previous years.  Heading in the opposite direction is Solihull, with a good performance of 17% in 2020 worsening to 40% in 2021.

At the bottom of the league table this year were Sandwell (50% allowed), Newcastle-under-Lyme (46%), Dudley (43%) and Coventry (43%), all significantly higher than the national average of 25%.

Change in planning appeal success rates over time

Some LPAs have improving performance, others worsening performance over time. This can reflect one or more of the following factors:
    • progress of a Local Plan
    • change in five year housing land supply position
    • LPAs granting permission more readily after experiencing a previous swathe of appeals (behaviour adjustment)
    • change in officers and/or councillors
    • statistical variance, particularly there are only a small number of appeals

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