Planning Approval Rate in County Durham
County Durham is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 93.7% of applications and decides 89.8% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #51 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in County Durham, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across County Durham.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,693 decisions (1,586 granted, 107 refused).
How County Durham compares
| County Durham | 93.7% |
| North East average | 91.7% |
| England average | 87% |
County Durham is 6.7 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in County Durham?
County Durham is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 93.7% of the applications it decides (rank 51st of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 93.7% approved against an England average of 87%. Within North East it is the 6th most approving of 14 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 91.7%. Refusals are uncommon here: 107 of its 1,693 decisions were refusals (6.3%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 89.4% of major developments approved versus 95.5% of householder and other small-scale work, from 104 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 89.8% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on one of the heavier caseloads of 1,693 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its North East neighbours it sits between Stockton-on-Tees (94%, more approving) and Newcastle upon Tyne (92.3%, stricter). For context in North East, Redcar and Cleveland approves the most (96.7%) and Middlesbrough the least (77.2%).
Compare County Durham with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in North East. See the full North East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in County Durham
Live planning activity in County Durham
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 4 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in County Durham
Where planning activity concentrates in County Durham
Recent applications in County Durham
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch County Durham page.
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Planning permission in County Durham: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in County Durham?
On the latest official figures County Durham is somewhat more approving than the England average and in the more approving third of English authorities, approving 93.7% of the 1,693 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does County Durham approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 93.7% approved and 6.3% refused — 1,586 granted and 107 refused of 1,693 decisions, with major schemes approved at 89.4% and householder and other work at 95.5%.
How quickly does County Durham decide planning applications?
On timing County Durham is about average on speed: 89.8% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is County Durham stricter than nearby councils?
County Durham's 93.7% approval rate makes it the 6th most approving of 14 authorities in North East, against a 91.7% regional average. Neighbouring Stockton-on-Tees approves 94% and Newcastle upon Tyne 92.3%.
Can I use County Durham's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application County Durham 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 County Durham 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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