Planning Approval Rate in Harborough
Harborough is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 89.6% of applications and decides 76.2% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #133 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Harborough, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Harborough District Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 819 decisions (734 granted, 85 refused).
How Harborough compares
| Harborough | 89.6% |
| East Midlands average | 89.8% |
| England average | 87% |
Harborough is 2.6 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Harborough?
Harborough is a little more approving than the median English authority, granting 89.6% of the applications it decides (rank 133rd of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 89.6% approved against an England average of 87%. Within East Midlands it is the 22nd most approving of 35 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 89.8%. Refusals are uncommon here: 85 of its 819 decisions were refusals (10.4%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 86.2% of major developments approved versus 91.1% of householder and other small-scale work, from 29 major decisions.
On timing it is among the slower authorities, deciding 76.2% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 819 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 West Northamptonshire (90%, more approving) and Derbyshire Dales (89.2%, stricter). For context in East Midlands, North Kesteven approves the most (97.2%) and Oadby and Wigston the least (71.7%).
Compare Harborough with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in East Midlands. See the full East Midlands league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Harborough
Live planning activity in Harborough District Council
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 Harborough District Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Harborough District Council
Recent applications in Harborough District Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Harborough page.
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Planning permission in Harborough: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Harborough?
On the latest official figures Harborough is close to the England average and a little more approving than the median English authority, approving 89.6% of the 819 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Harborough approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 89.6% approved and 10.4% refused — 734 granted and 85 refused of 819 decisions, with major schemes approved at 86.2% and householder and other work at 91.1%.
How quickly does Harborough decide planning applications?
On timing Harborough is among the slower authorities: 76.2% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Harborough stricter than nearby councils?
Harborough's 89.6% approval rate makes it the 22nd most approving of 35 authorities in East Midlands, against a 89.8% regional average. Neighbouring West Northamptonshire approves 90% and Derbyshire Dales 89.2%.
Can I use Harborough's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Harborough 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 Harborough 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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