Spalding builds first and asks permission later at twice the national rate. 128 retrospective applications in 2025.
South Holland received 846 planning applications in 2025 within the Spalding area, up 3% on the 819 submitted in 2024. Of the applications that have been decided, 87.1% were approved and 12.9% refused, broadly in line with the national rates of 87.6% and 12.4%. The standout finding is retrospective applications: at 7.7% of the area's total, Spalding files them at 2.1 times the national rate of 3.7%. About 1 in 8 applications is refused, the same as the national norm.
The year in one line
Spalding's refusal rate sits in line with the national norm at about 1 in 8, but the area's defining feature is retrospective planning: owners build first and ask permission later at more than twice the national rate.
What Spalding Is Building
Extensions lead, but retrospective work is the town's defining outlier.
Home extensions were the most common application type submitted to South Holland in 2025, at 21.7% of all applications, below the 29.1% national share. The category that sets Spalding apart is retrospective work: 128 applications filed after building had already started, making up 7.7% of the total against a national average of 3.7%. Conservation-area works and change of use to residential also run above the national share.
Applications submitted to South Holland in 2025 within the Spalding area, by project type. Counts are over the 2024-2025 pooled window used for category shares.
The retrospective effect
Spalding files retrospective applications at 2.1 times the national rate, 7.7% of all applications against 3.7% nationally. It is the area's clearest point of difference in the project mix.
The council verdict
About 1 in 8 refused.
Of the applications submitted to South Holland that have a decision, 87.1% were approved and 12.9% refused, a refusal rate of about 1 in 8. That sits broadly in line with the national rates of 87.6% approved and 12.4% refused. Applicants here face roughly the same odds as anywhere in England and Wales.
Broadly in line with the national approval rate of 87.6%.
of decided applications were refused, against a 12.4% national rate. About 1 in 8 applications is turned down, the same as the national norm.
Spalding vs The National Norm
In line on refusals, well above average on retrospective work.
Set Spalding's mix against the national average and three differences stand out. Retrospective applications run at 2.1 times the national share. Conservation-area works run at 1.7 times, and change of use to residential at 1.6 times. Extensions are the largest single category but sit below the national norm at 21.7% against 29.1%. The refusal rate of 12.9% is broadly in line with the 12.4% national figure.
Spalding files retrospective applications at 2.1 times the national rate. Owners build first and seek permission afterwards more than twice as often as the national norm.
Each bar is Spalding's share of applications; the marker is the national share. Retrospective work is the area's defining outlier.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices rose alongside the building work.
Consent may be broadly in line with the national norm here, but values are climbing: the average Spalding home moved up by a double-digit margin over the year.
Spalding's planning data has one clear story to tell. The refusal rate sits broadly in line with the national norm, about 1 in 8 applications turned down. What sets the area apart is the volume of retrospective work: owners build first and seek permission afterwards at more than twice the national rate. Conservation-area works and change of use to residential also run above the national share. This is not an area where getting planning is unusually hard; it is one where owners are unusually willing to act before they have it.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to South Holland in 2025 within the Spalding area, classified from each application's published description. Category shares are computed over the 2024-2025 pooled window for stability.
Decision Rates
Approval rate is approvals as a share of applications with a decision (approvals plus refusals). The national benchmarks are computed the same way across all decided applications in England and Wales.
Sales Data
HM Land Registry Price Paid Data for the Spalding post town, the latest full year's completions, with growth measured against the previous year.
The Real Applications
Open the planning applications behind the numbers.
These are real applications submitted to South Holland in 2025 in the Spalding area, from retrospective filings and barn conversions to conservation-area works. Open any one to see its full record.
53 Roman Bank, Holbeach PE12 8BB
A standalone outbuilding application in the South Holland area, the kind of agricultural and rural conversion work that runs through Spalding's planning record.
See this property's full record6 Tawny Road PE11 7AE
A retrospective application approved after work had already taken place, one of 128 such applications in the Spalding area across 2024-2025.
See this property's full recordThe Sessions House Sheep Market PE11 1BB
A retrospective application for works already carried out, filed in a conservation area, combining two of the categories that run above the national share in Spalding.
See this property's full record14 Holbourne Site Dawsmere Road, Gedney Drove End PE12 9PN
A change of use application in the South Holland area, contributing to the 59 change-of-use-to-residential applications that run at 1.6 times the national share.
See this property's full record3 Chancery Lane, Holbeach PE12 7DS
Conservation-area works approved in Holbeach, part of the 54 conservation applications submitted in the Spalding area that run at 1.7 times the national share.
See this property's full record1 The Chase, Long Sutton PE12 9BW
A home extension, the most common application type in the Spalding area at 21.7% of all submissions, approved by South Holland.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Spalding?
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