Ealing granted 871 of the 993 householder applications it decided last year. It also agreed an extension of time on 572 of them — the second-highest share in London — so the eight-week statutory period is the exception here rather than the rule.
A householder application must normally be determined within eight weeks of validation. Where the council cannot meet that, it can ask the applicant to agree a longer period in writing. The application is then decided within the agreed date instead, and it counts as determined in time.
This is entirely lawful and often sensible: an extension is preferable to a refusal issued for want of time. But it changes what a published punctuality figure tells you. Ealing's 96.9% is measured against 421 cases — the ones on the statutory clock. The other 572 were decided on a date the council and the applicant agreed between them.
For a homeowner, the practical implication is about planning the build rather than the application. If your project depends on a decision by a particular date — a builder's slot, a lease event, a school term — you should assume from the outset that Ealing may ask for longer, and that agreeing is usually the better of the two options you will be offered.
Ealing decides a large caseload — 993 householder applications in the year — and approves rather more of them than London as a whole. The timing row is the one that repays reading twice.
| Measure | Ealing | London | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Householder applications decided | 993 | 24,758 | 151,867 |
| Householder approval rate | 87.7% | 85.6% | 90.3% |
| Householder refusals | 122 | — | — |
| Cases on an agreed extension of time | 572 of 993 (57.6%) | — | — |
| Determined in 8 weeks, of those on the clock | 96.9% (408 of 421) | — | — |
| Householder appeals allowed | 39.4% | 39.9% | 34.4% |
Approval and timing: MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1/PS2), financial year 2025-26. Appeals: Planning Inspectorate casework, five years to 30 June 2026 — 67 of 170 determined householder appeals allowed. Derived in scripts/aggregate/.
Many do not. A single-storey rear extension inside the permitted development limits, a rear-dormer loft within the volume allowance and most garage conversions need no application. You will need one where:
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Ealing decided 269 large householder extension prior approvals in 2025-26 and refused 70 — 26.0%, roughly one in four, against 8.6% in Hillingdon and 12.0% in Bromley.
The route allows a single-storey rear extension of up to 6m on an attached house or 8m on a detached one, and it turns on one question only: the effect on the amenity of adjoining neighbours. There is no scope for the council to negotiate a smaller scheme, so a sustained objection ends it outright.
Ealing's mix explains the rate. 28.3% of its homes predate 1919 and 30.1% are interwar, so plots are frequently narrower and closer than the post-war suburbs where the route works best. Where your neighbours sit close, a full application at a shallower depth gives the council room to grant something rather than nothing — and in a borough that approves 87.7% of what it decides, something is usually available.
Ealing is split almost evenly between Victorian and interwar housing, with an unusually small post-war share. That mix is why permitted development advice has to be given per address here rather than per borough.
| Build period | Share of homes | What usually follows |
|---|---|---|
| Before 1919 | 28.3% | Victorian and Edwardian terraces and villas, the stock most likely to sit in one of the 31 conservation areas and most likely to be already extended |
| 1919 to 1939 | 30.1% | Interwar semis on regular plots — hipped roofs suited to hip-to-gable loft conversions, and side gaps worth testing |
| 1945 to 1972 | 11.9% | A small post-war share by outer-London standards, which is part of why the prior approval route performs less well here |
| 1973 onwards | 29.7% | Later estates, infill and conversions, where plot coverage is tighter and the original-house measurement is decisive |
Shares of the 149,630 Ealing dwellings with a recorded build period. Source: Valuation Office Agency, council tax stock of properties (CTSOP4.1), as at 31 March 2025. The published bands have a genuine gap over 1940-1944.
Given the borough's timetable behaviour, the sequence is built to remove every avoidable reason for delay before the application goes in.
Conservation-area status among the borough's 31 designations, any recorded Article 4 direction, and which route — certificate, prior approval or full application — genuinely fits your address.
The house as it stands and as originally built. With 28.3% of the borough pre-1919, previous alterations frequently mean the remaining allowance is smaller than the owner expects.
Existing and proposed plans, elevations, sections, site plan and 1:1250 location plan, each at a stated metric scale with a north point. Validation delay is time you lose before the eight weeks even begin.
We submit and handle the officer's questions. If the council asks for an extension of time, we will tell you plainly whether agreeing is the better option — on this borough's numbers it usually is.
Ealing's approval rate quarter by quarter, alongside England's, updated as MHCLG publishes.
Source: MHCLG planning application statistics (householder decisions, England, 1 April 2025 - 31 March 2026). Compare every borough on our London approval-rate league table.
It depends which timetable your application ends up on. Ealing determined 96.9% of its statutory-clock householder cases within eight weeks in 2025-26 — 408 of 421 — but 572 of its 993 householder decisions were made under an agreed extension of time instead. That 57.6% share is the second-highest in London. In practice you should plan for the possibility of a longer agreed period rather than assume eight weeks, particularly if a builder's start date depends on the decision.
It is a written agreement between you and the council to decide the application by a later date than the statutory eight weeks. It is lawful and common, and the alternative is often worse: without it, a council short of time may refuse rather than let the deadline pass. Given that Ealing agrees extensions on well over half its householder caseload, being asked is normal here rather than a warning sign. Agreeing generally gives the officer room to reach a grant.
Ealing granted 87.7% of the householder applications it decided in the 2025-26 financial year — 871 of 993, with 122 refused. That is above the London average of 85.6% and below England's 90.3%, on one of the larger householder caseloads in the capital. The figures come from the MHCLG statistics every English council reports quarterly.
Often not. On a house outside a conservation area, a single-storey rear extension can be built under permitted development if it projects no more than 3m from the original rear wall on a semi-detached or terraced property, or 4m on a detached one, and stays within 4m in height. Beyond those depths, up to 6m or 8m, prior approval is needed instead of full permission. The complications here are the borough's 31 conservation areas and the fact that 28.3% of its homes predate 1919 and have frequently been extended already.
Ealing refused 70 of the 269 large householder extension prior approvals it decided in 2025-26 — 26.0%. The route is judged solely on the effect on neighbours' amenity, with no scope for the council to negotiate a reduction, so a single sustained objection ends it. Ealing's housing is predominantly Victorian and interwar rather than post-war, meaning narrower plots and closer neighbours than the suburbs where the route works best. On a tight plot, a full application at a shallower depth is usually the faster path to a built extension.
31 conservation areas are recorded for Ealing in the national planning data register. Inside one, the council controls work that would be permitted development elsewhere — side extensions, roof alterations, cladding and window replacement — and assesses the design against the character of the area rather than the house alone. Boundaries commonly run along individual streets rather than following neighbourhood names, so the specific address is what decides the position.
No Article 4 direction is recorded for Ealing in the national planning data register. That is not a guarantee that none exists: the register depends on each council uploading its own directions, so an absence there means not recorded rather than not in force. Because an Article 4 direction removes permitted development rights outright and changes the answer entirely, we confirm the position with Ealing Council for your specific address before advising that work can proceed without an application.
Close to the London average and above the national one. The Planning Inspectorate allowed 39.4% of householder appeals against Ealing over the five years to 30 June 2026 — 67 of 170 — compared with 39.9% across London and 34.4% across England. An appeal takes several months and is judged against the same policies the council applied, so where the refusal cites something adjustable, such as extension depth or an overlooking window, a revised application usually reaches a built extension sooner.
Usually yes on a house outside a conservation area. A rear dormer or hip-to-gable conversion is permitted development if the added volume stays within 40m³ on a terraced house or 50m³ on a semi-detached or detached one, nothing rises above the existing ridge, and the dormer sits on the rear or side roof slope. Ealing's interwar stock, 30.1% of its homes, suits hip-to-gable work well. Its Victorian terraces need more care, because a previous rear addition may already have consumed part of the volume allowance.
The whole borough — Ealing, Acton, Southall, Hanwell, Greenford, Northolt, Perivale and Northfields. Every application is decided by the same authority against the same local plan, so the process does not change with the postcode. What changes is the housing: the Victorian and Edwardian streets and the interwar suburbs raise different permitted development questions, and conservation-area boundaries cut across both.
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