Planning Approval Rate in Amber Valley
Amber Valley is markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council for planning permission: it approves 95.7% of applications and decides 99% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #12 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Amber Valley, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Amber Valley Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 690 decisions (660 granted, 30 refused).
How Amber Valley compares
| Amber Valley | 95.7% |
| East Midlands average | 89.8% |
| England average | 87% |
Amber Valley is 8.7 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Amber Valley?
Amber Valley is among the ten per cent most approving authorities in England, granting 95.7% of the applications it decides (rank 12th of 310). That puts it markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council — 95.7% approved against an England average of 87%. Within East Midlands it is the 4th most approving of 35 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 89.8%. Refusals are rare here: 30 of its 690 decisions were refusals (4.3%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 96.7% of major developments approved versus 97.1% of householder and other small-scale work, from 30 major decisions.
On timing it is among the faster authorities, deciding 99% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 690 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its East Midlands neighbours it sits between Bolsover (96.3%, more approving) and Melton (95.2%, stricter). For context in East Midlands, North Kesteven approves the most (97.2%) and Oadby and Wigston the least (71.7%).
Compare Amber Valley with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in East Midlands. See the full East Midlands league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Amber Valley
Live planning activity in Amber Valley Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 24 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Amber Valley Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Amber Valley Borough Council
Recent applications in Amber Valley Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Amber Valley page.
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Planning permission in Amber Valley: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Amber Valley?
On the latest official figures Amber Valley is markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council and among the ten per cent most approving authorities in England, approving 95.7% of the 690 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Amber Valley approve or refuse?
Refusals are rare here: 95.7% approved and 4.3% refused — 660 granted and 30 refused of 690 decisions, with major schemes approved at 96.7% and householder and other work at 97.1%.
How quickly does Amber Valley decide planning applications?
On timing Amber Valley is among the faster authorities: 99% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Amber Valley stricter than nearby councils?
Amber Valley's 95.7% approval rate makes it the 4th most approving of 35 authorities in East Midlands, against a 89.8% regional average. Neighbouring Bolsover approves 96.3% and Melton 95.2%.
Can I use Amber Valley's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Amber Valley decided, not a prediction for any individual application; your outcome depends on the site, the proposal, local planning policy and any objections.
Methodology & limits
Approval, refusal and in-time rates come from the government's official PS2 planning application statistics (Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government), covering 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. This dataset is England-only and published annually, so it lags live activity. Live figures are the applications PlanWatch has collected for Amber Valley Borough Council and are not a complete council register. Refusal reasons and delegated-vs-committee splits are not published in this data.
This is a historic average, not a prediction. It cannot tell you whether your application will be approved — that depends on your site, proposal, local policy and any objections.
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