Planning Approval Rate in North York Moors National Park

North York Moors National Park is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 94.4% of the applications it decides (rank 35th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 94.4% approved against an England average of 87%. Within National Parks it is the 2nd most approving of 10 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 91.2%. Refusals are uncommon here: 26 of its 462 decisions were refusals (5.6%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 83.3% of major developments approved versus 95% of householder and other small-scale work, from 6 major decisions.

On timing it is a little slower than average, deciding 85.9% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 462 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its National Parks neighbours it sits between Northumberland National Park (94.6%, more approving) and The Broads Authority (94.1%, stricter). For context in National Parks, Northumberland National Park approves the most (94.6%) and Peak District National Park the least (86.5%).