Planning Approval Rate in Ashfield
Ashfield is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 85.5% of applications and decides 82.9% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #219 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Ashfield, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Ashfield District Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 414 decisions (354 granted, 60 refused).
How Ashfield compares
| Ashfield | 85.5% |
| East Midlands average | 89.8% |
| England average | 87% |
Ashfield is 1.5 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Ashfield?
Ashfield is in the stricter third of English authorities, granting 85.5% of the applications it decides (rank 219th of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 85.5% approved against an England average of 87%. Within East Midlands it is the 32nd most approving of 35 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 89.8%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 60 of its 414 decisions were refusals (14.5%). On the split by scale it is somewhat more lenient on major schemes than on small ones: 94.1% of major developments approved versus 86.3% of householder and other small-scale work, from 34 major decisions.
On timing it is among the slower authorities, deciding 82.9% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 414 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 North Northamptonshire (86%, more approving) and Leicester (82.3%, stricter). For context in East Midlands, North Kesteven approves the most (97.2%) and Oadby and Wigston the least (71.7%).
Compare Ashfield with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in East Midlands. See the full East Midlands league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Ashfield
Live planning activity in Ashfield District Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 25 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Ashfield District Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Ashfield District Council
Recent applications in Ashfield District Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Ashfield page.
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Planning permission in Ashfield: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Ashfield?
On the latest official figures Ashfield is close to the England average and in the stricter third of English authorities, approving 85.5% of the 414 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Ashfield approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 85.5% approved and 14.5% refused — 354 granted and 60 refused of 414 decisions, with major schemes approved at 94.1% and householder and other work at 86.3%.
How quickly does Ashfield decide planning applications?
On timing Ashfield is among the slower authorities: 82.9% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Ashfield stricter than nearby councils?
Ashfield's 85.5% approval rate makes it the 32nd most approving of 35 authorities in East Midlands, against a 89.8% regional average. Neighbouring North Northamptonshire approves 86% and Leicester 82.3%.
Can I use Ashfield's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Ashfield 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 Ashfield District 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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