Planning Approval Rate in North Lincolnshire
North Lincolnshire is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 86% of applications and decides 86% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #210 of 310 English authorities. This is the approval-rate record for North Lincolnshire: how hard it is to get planning permission, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours, from official government statistics.
Looking for a particular application rather than the statistics? Search North Lincolnshire planning applications by postcode on PlanWatch.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 720 decisions (619 granted, 101 refused).
How North Lincolnshire compares
| North Lincolnshire | 86% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber average | 87.4% |
| England average | 87% |
North Lincolnshire is about average for England.
How hard is it to get planning permission in North Lincolnshire?
North Lincolnshire is in the stricter third of English authorities, granting 86% of the applications it decides (rank 210th of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 86% approved against an England average of 87%. Within Yorkshire and the Humber it is the 10th most approving of 15 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.4%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 101 of its 720 decisions were refusals (14%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 83.8% of major developments approved versus 90.3% of householder and other small-scale work, from 37 major decisions.
On timing it is a little slower than average, deciding 86% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 720 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its Yorkshire and the Humber neighbours it sits between Doncaster (86.1%, more approving) and Bradford (85.2%, stricter). For context in Yorkshire and the Humber, North East Lincolnshire approves the most (95.3%) and Rotherham the least (79.9%).
Compare North Lincolnshire with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in Yorkshire and the Humber. See the full Yorkshire and the Humber league table.
Approval rate by development scale in North Lincolnshire
Live planning activity in North Lincolnshire Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 12 October 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in North Lincolnshire Council
Where planning activity concentrates in North Lincolnshire Council
Recent applications in North Lincolnshire Council
This is a sample, not the full register. Search North Lincolnshire planning applications by postcode.
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Planning permission in North Lincolnshire: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in North Lincolnshire?
On the latest official figures North Lincolnshire is close to the England average and in the stricter third of English authorities, approving 86% of the 720 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does North Lincolnshire approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 86% approved and 14% refused — 619 granted and 101 refused of 720 decisions, with major schemes approved at 83.8% and householder and other work at 90.3%.
How quickly does North Lincolnshire decide planning applications?
On timing North Lincolnshire is a little slower than average: 86% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is North Lincolnshire stricter than nearby councils?
North Lincolnshire's 86% approval rate makes it the 10th most approving of 15 authorities in Yorkshire and the Humber, against a 87.4% regional average. Neighbouring Doncaster approves 86.1% and Bradford 85.2%.
Can I use North Lincolnshire's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application North Lincolnshire 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 North Lincolnshire 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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