Planning Approval Rate in Mid Suffolk

Mid Suffolk is a little stricter than the median English authority, granting 88.2% of the applications it decides (rank 162nd of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 88.2% approved against an England average of 87%. Within East of England it is the 18th most approving of 45 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 86.1%. Refusals are uncommon here: 107 of its 904 decisions were refusals (11.8%). On the split by scale it is far tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 78.1% of major developments approved versus 93.9% of householder and other small-scale work, from 32 major decisions.

On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 94.9% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 904 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its East of England neighbours it sits between Dacorum (89%, more approving) and Welwyn Hatfield (87.6%, stricter). For context in East of England, Norwich approves the most (95.6%) and Epping Forest the least (66.1%).