Planning applications in Tower Hamlets

Planning in Tower Hamlets

Tower Hamlets refuses planning applications at about the same rate as the areas we cover as a whole: of more than 24,000 since 2016, about 1 in 7 of those decided was refused. Underneath that average, some kinds of work fare very differently.

The most striking figure is for solar panels. Of 282 applications, about 1 in 2 was refused, against about 1 in 9 nationally. If you are planning solar panels in Tower Hamlets, look closely at what has been approved nearby before applying.

Windows and doors are the busiest category, with more than 3,800 applications, and are refused about 1 in 8 times, a little more often than the national rate of about 1 in 9 but less often than the council overall. Extensions are tougher. Rear extensions are refused about 1 in 5 times, and side extensions and loft conversions and dormers about 1 in 4. Garden rooms and outbuildings and front extensions and porches are about 1 in 5. All of these are above the national rate. Fences, walls and gates match it at about 1 in 7, and driveways and dropped kerbs, at about 1 in 6, are a little better than the national figure of about 1 in 5.

The median householder application took 8 weeks to decide, and 62% were decided within 8 weeks, across 667 decisions between 2023 and 2025.

Tower Hamlets has 61 conservation areas, 904 listed buildings and 63 Article 4 directions. Among its neighbours, it refuses at about the same rate as Hackney, less often than Greenwich, Lewisham and Newham, and more often than Southwark (about 1 in 15) and the City (about 1 in 70).

The busiest year on record was 2017, with 3,212 applications. In 2025 there were 1,968, below the average of 2,108 a year in the three years before, and the refusal rate was about the same as in that period.

Figures in this section as of 9 October 2026.