Planning Approval Rate in Mid Devon
Mid Devon is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 94.4% of applications and decides 95% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #33 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Mid Devon, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Mid Devon District Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 675 decisions (637 granted, 38 refused).
How Mid Devon compares
| Mid Devon | 94.4% |
| South West average | 89.5% |
| England average | 87% |
Mid Devon is 7.4 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Mid Devon?
Mid Devon is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 94.4% of the applications it decides (rank 33rd of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 94.4% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South West it is the 3rd most approving of 27 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 89.5%. Refusals are uncommon here: 38 of its 675 decisions were refusals (5.6%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 92.3% of major developments approved versus 96% of householder and other small-scale work, from 13 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 95% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 675 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its South West neighbours it sits between Bath and North East Somerset (94.8%, more approving) and North Devon (93.8%, stricter). For context in South West, Cheltenham approves the most (96.5%) and Gloucester the least (80.5%).
Compare Mid Devon with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South West. See the full South West league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Mid Devon
Live planning activity in Mid Devon District Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 1 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Mid Devon District Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Mid Devon District Council
Recent applications in Mid Devon District Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Mid Devon page.
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Planning permission in Mid Devon: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Mid Devon?
On the latest official figures Mid Devon is somewhat more approving than the England average and in the more approving third of English authorities, approving 94.4% of the 675 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Mid Devon approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 94.4% approved and 5.6% refused — 637 granted and 38 refused of 675 decisions, with major schemes approved at 92.3% and householder and other work at 96%.
How quickly does Mid Devon decide planning applications?
On timing Mid Devon is a little faster than average: 95% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Mid Devon stricter than nearby councils?
Mid Devon's 94.4% approval rate makes it the 3rd most approving of 27 authorities in South West, against a 89.5% regional average. Neighbouring Bath and North East Somerset approves 94.8% and North Devon 93.8%.
Can I use Mid Devon's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Mid Devon 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 Mid Devon 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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