Planning Approval Rate in Mansfield
Mansfield is markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council for planning permission: it approves 96.4% of applications and decides 95.4% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #7 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Mansfield, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Mansfield District Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 304 decisions (293 granted, 11 refused).
How Mansfield compares
| Mansfield | 96.4% |
| East Midlands average | 89.8% |
| England average | 87% |
Mansfield is 9.4 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Mansfield?
Mansfield is among the ten per cent most approving authorities in England, granting 96.4% of the applications it decides (rank 7th of 310). That puts it markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council — 96.4% approved against an England average of 87%. Within East Midlands it is the 2nd most approving of 35 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 89.8%. Refusals are rare here: 11 of its 304 decisions were refusals (3.6%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 100% of major developments approved versus 96.3% of householder and other small-scale work, from 21 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 95.4% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 304 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 Kesteven (97.2%, more approving) and Bolsover (96.3%, stricter). For context in East Midlands, North Kesteven approves the most (97.2%) and Oadby and Wigston the least (71.7%).
Compare Mansfield with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in East Midlands. See the full East Midlands league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Mansfield
Live planning activity in Mansfield District Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 7 July 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Mansfield District Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Mansfield District Council
Recent applications in Mansfield District Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Mansfield page.
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Planning permission in Mansfield: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Mansfield?
On the latest official figures Mansfield is markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council and among the ten per cent most approving authorities in England, approving 96.4% of the 304 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Mansfield approve or refuse?
Refusals are rare here: 96.4% approved and 3.6% refused — 293 granted and 11 refused of 304 decisions, with major schemes approved at 100% and householder and other work at 96.3%.
How quickly does Mansfield decide planning applications?
On timing Mansfield is a little faster than average: 95.4% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Mansfield stricter than nearby councils?
Mansfield's 96.4% approval rate makes it the 2nd most approving of 35 authorities in East Midlands, against a 89.8% regional average. Neighbouring North Kesteven approves 97.2% and Bolsover 96.3%.
Can I use Mansfield's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Mansfield 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 Mansfield 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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