Faith and community
The faith and community planning index stands at 117: places of worship, social clubs and mosques take 17% more of all applications than in 2016.
117Planning index (2016 = 100)17% above its 2016 share
down 7%Change in shareQ3 2026 against Q3 2025
100Applications, Q3 2026every council we hold
420Applications, past 12 monthsall councils, October 2025 to September 2026
In brief
- Places of worship drew 312 of the theme's 420 applications in the year to September 2026, a share 36% above three years earlier.
- Social clubs drew 103, a share 34% above three years earlier, as former working men's clubs are converted.
- Mosques drew 38 applications, a share 33% above three years earlier but below 2016.
Q3 2026 against a year earlier
By topic
| Topic | Applications | Share, Q3 2025 | Share, Q3 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Places of worship | 80 | 8.0 | 7.8 | down 2% |
| Social clubs | 19 | 2.4 | 1.8 | Under 40 |
| Mosques | 8 | 1.6 | 0.8 | Under 40 |
Applications in Q3 2026. Share is the number in every 10,000 applications.
Out of every 10,000 applications
All 3 topics together: 9.7 in every 10,000 applications in Q3 2026, against 10 a year earlier.
Topics in this theme
About Plota
Plota is the UK's most visited planning search, according to Similarweb. It shows every new planning application from every UK council, read daily from 390 planning registers, with past applications back to 2016 from more than 420 registers, including those of councils since merged. It also covers planning committee decisions, HMO licences and premises licences.
How this is measured
- The theme's planning index: the applications for its 3 topics over the previous 12 months, as a share of all applications, with the 2016 share set at 100.
- Each application counts once in a theme, even when it names two of the theme's topics, so the topics can add up to more than the theme.
- Topics: each counts applications whose description names it, or a close variant of the words. Each topic's matches were checked one by one, by reading its 200 most recent applications and 20 from every year since 2016. Topics count planning applications, not completed schemes. The largest energy and infrastructure projects are consented nationally rather than by councils, so they sit outside these counts.
- Topic counts leave out, by design, works to trees and applications that only discharge conditions, amend an earlier permission or approve reserved matters, which follow a scheme already counted. Everything else is counted.
- Planning is seasonal, so each quarter is compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Year on year: each topic's and theme's share of all applications in Q3 2026, against Q3 2025, at every council we hold. A share is the number in every 10,000 applications. Shares compare across councils and years; raw counts do not.
- Left out of the topic shares: Birmingham's applications from June to September 2026: a validation backlog at the council since June 2026: of 685 reference numbers it issued in September, its register lists 288. The same months a year earlier are left out too, so every comparison covers the same councils.
- Source: the planning registers of every UK council, January 2016 to September 2026, read on 9 November 2026.