Planning Approval Rate in Derby
Derby is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 91% of applications and decides 88.4% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #105 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Derby, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Derby City Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 937 decisions (853 granted, 84 refused).
How Derby compares
| Derby | 91% |
| East Midlands average | 89.8% |
| England average | 87% |
Derby is 4 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Derby?
Derby is a little more approving than the median English authority, granting 91% of the applications it decides (rank 105th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 91% approved against an England average of 87%. Within East Midlands it is the 15th most approving of 35 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 89.8%. Refusals are uncommon here: 84 of its 937 decisions were refusals (9%). On the split by scale it is somewhat more lenient on major schemes than on small ones: 97.2% of major developments approved versus 91.5% of householder and other small-scale work, from 36 major decisions.
On timing it is a little slower than average, deciding 88.4% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 937 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 East Derbyshire (91.3%, more approving) and Newark and Sherwood (91%, stricter). For context in East Midlands, North Kesteven approves the most (97.2%) and Oadby and Wigston the least (71.7%).
Compare Derby with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in East Midlands. See the full East Midlands league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Derby
Live planning activity in Derby City 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 Derby City Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Derby City Council
Recent applications in Derby City Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Derby page.
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Planning permission in Derby: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Derby?
On the latest official figures Derby is somewhat more approving than the England average and a little more approving than the median English authority, approving 91% of the 937 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Derby approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 91% approved and 9% refused — 853 granted and 84 refused of 937 decisions, with major schemes approved at 97.2% and householder and other work at 91.5%.
How quickly does Derby decide planning applications?
On timing Derby is a little slower than average: 88.4% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Derby stricter than nearby councils?
Derby's 91% approval rate makes it the 15th most approving of 35 authorities in East Midlands, against a 89.8% regional average. Neighbouring North East Derbyshire approves 91.3% and Newark and Sherwood 91%.
Can I use Derby's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Derby 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 Derby City 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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