Planning Approval Rate in Bassetlaw
Bassetlaw is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 86.3% of applications and decides 80.2% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #201 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Bassetlaw, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Bassetlaw District Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 556 decisions (480 granted, 76 refused).
How Bassetlaw compares
| Bassetlaw | 86.3% |
| East Midlands average | 89.8% |
| England average | 87% |
Bassetlaw is about average for England.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Bassetlaw?
Bassetlaw is a little stricter than the median English authority, granting 86.3% of the applications it decides (rank 201st of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 86.3% approved against an England average of 87%. Within East Midlands it is the 29th most approving of 35 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 89.8%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 76 of its 556 decisions were refusals (13.7%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 88.1% of major developments approved versus 89.2% of householder and other small-scale work, from 42 major decisions.
On timing it is among the slower authorities, deciding 80.2% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 556 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 Charnwood (86.6%, more approving) and High Peak (86.2%, stricter). For context in East Midlands, North Kesteven approves the most (97.2%) and Oadby and Wigston the least (71.7%).
Compare Bassetlaw with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in East Midlands. See the full East Midlands league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Bassetlaw
Live planning activity in Bassetlaw District Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 28 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Bassetlaw District Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Bassetlaw District Council
Recent applications in Bassetlaw District Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Bassetlaw page.
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Planning permission in Bassetlaw: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Bassetlaw?
On the latest official figures Bassetlaw is close to the England average and a little stricter than the median English authority, approving 86.3% of the 556 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Bassetlaw approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 86.3% approved and 13.7% refused — 480 granted and 76 refused of 556 decisions, with major schemes approved at 88.1% and householder and other work at 89.2%.
How quickly does Bassetlaw decide planning applications?
On timing Bassetlaw is among the slower authorities: 80.2% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Bassetlaw stricter than nearby councils?
Bassetlaw's 86.3% approval rate makes it the 29th most approving of 35 authorities in East Midlands, against a 89.8% regional average. Neighbouring Charnwood approves 86.6% and High Peak 86.2%.
Can I use Bassetlaw's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Bassetlaw 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 Bassetlaw 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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