98% of our sites gained planning permission in the end.

The record counts sites, not applications. A site is a home or a plot we have taken through planning. Some sites need more than one application: a revised scheme after a refusal, a separate application for a later phase, or an appeal. All of those decisions are in the figures, which cover 108 decisions on 81 sites between March 2020 and October 2026.

A site counts as permitted if it gained planning permission in the end, whether first time, through a revised application, or on appeal. Three appeals were allowed. Two of the 81 sites did not gain permission.

The figures come from the councils' own decision notices and our project records, across 28 different planning authorities.

It does not mean every application was approved first time. Some were refused, and permission came through a better scheme or an appeal. That is normal on difficult sites, and being honest about it is part of the point.

It is not a guarantee. No architect can promise a planning outcome, and we won't. Every site is different, and a few should not be pursued at all in the form the owner first imagined.

What it does show is a habit: reading the policy and the local decisions properly, naming the risks early, and shaping the scheme so it has the best chance. That work starts before anything is drawn, in the Clarity Pack, which tests what is likely to be approved on your home and where the risks are.

Nine of the sites were in National Landscapes (formerly Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) or National Parks, where the bar for design is higher. All nine were approved. Much of Surrey sits in the Green Belt or the Surrey Hills National Landscape, so this is often the question that matters most.

More on how we approach planning: planning advice and feasibility studies.