Planning Approval Rate in Blackpool
Blackpool is somewhat stricter than the England average for planning permission: it approves 82.2% of applications and decides 86.5% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #258 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Blackpool, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Blackpool.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 349 decisions (287 granted, 62 refused).
How Blackpool compares
| Blackpool | 82.2% |
| North West average | 88.3% |
| England average | 87% |
Blackpool is 4.8 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Blackpool?
Blackpool is in the stricter third of English authorities, granting 82.2% of the applications it decides (rank 258th of 310). That puts it somewhat stricter than the England average — 82.2% approved against an England average of 87%. Within North West it is the 32nd most approving of 35 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 88.3%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 62 of its 349 decisions were refusals (17.8%). On the split by scale it is strikingly more lenient on major schemes than on small ones: 100% of major developments approved versus 79.4% of householder and other small-scale work, from 13 major decisions.
On timing it is a little slower than average, deciding 86.5% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 349 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its North West neighbours it sits between West Lancashire (82.5%, more approving) and Bolton (80.5%, stricter). For context in North West, Cumberland approves the most (96.8%) and Warrington the least (76.2%).
Compare Blackpool with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in North West. See the full North West league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Blackpool
Live planning activity in Blackpool
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 Blackpool
Where planning activity concentrates in Blackpool
Recent applications in Blackpool
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Blackpool page.
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Planning permission in Blackpool: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Blackpool?
On the latest official figures Blackpool is somewhat stricter than the England average and in the stricter third of English authorities, approving 82.2% of the 349 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Blackpool approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 82.2% approved and 17.8% refused — 287 granted and 62 refused of 349 decisions, with major schemes approved at 100% and householder and other work at 79.4%.
How quickly does Blackpool decide planning applications?
On timing Blackpool is a little slower than average: 86.5% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Blackpool stricter than nearby councils?
Blackpool's 82.2% approval rate makes it the 32nd most approving of 35 authorities in North West, against a 88.3% regional average. Neighbouring West Lancashire approves 82.5% and Bolton 80.5%.
Can I use Blackpool's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Blackpool 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 Blackpool 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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