Planning Approval Rate in Hyndburn
Hyndburn is markedly stricter than the typical English council for planning permission: it approves 77.4% of applications and decides 86.9% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #289 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Hyndburn, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Hyndburn Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 252 decisions (195 granted, 57 refused).
How Hyndburn compares
| Hyndburn | 77.4% |
| North West average | 88.3% |
| England average | 87% |
Hyndburn is 9.6 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Hyndburn?
Hyndburn is among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, granting 77.4% of the applications it decides (rank 289th of 310). That puts it markedly stricter than the typical English council — 77.4% approved against an England average of 87%. Within North West it is the 34th most approving of 35 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 88.3%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 57 of its 252 decisions were refusals (22.6%). On the split by scale it is somewhat more lenient on major schemes than on small ones: 83.3% of major developments approved versus 78.8% of householder and other small-scale work, from 6 major decisions.
On timing it is a little slower than average, deciding 86.9% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 252 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 Bolton (80.5%, more approving) and Warrington (76.2%, stricter). For context in North West, Cumberland approves the most (96.8%) and Warrington the least (76.2%).
Compare Hyndburn with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in North West. See the full North West league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Hyndburn
Live planning activity in Hyndburn Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 2 July 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Hyndburn Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Hyndburn Borough Council
Recent applications in Hyndburn Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Hyndburn page.
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Planning permission in Hyndburn: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Hyndburn?
On the latest official figures Hyndburn is markedly stricter than the typical English council and among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, approving 77.4% of the 252 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Hyndburn approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 77.4% approved and 22.6% refused — 195 granted and 57 refused of 252 decisions, with major schemes approved at 83.3% and householder and other work at 78.8%.
How quickly does Hyndburn decide planning applications?
On timing Hyndburn is a little slower than average: 86.9% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Hyndburn stricter than nearby councils?
Hyndburn's 77.4% approval rate makes it the 34th most approving of 35 authorities in North West, against a 88.3% regional average. Neighbouring Bolton approves 80.5% and Warrington 76.2%.
Can I use Hyndburn's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Hyndburn 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 Hyndburn Borough 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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