Planning Approval Rate in Norwich
Norwich is markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council for planning permission: it approves 95.6% of applications and decides 86.1% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #15 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Norwich, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Norwich City Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 546 decisions (522 granted, 24 refused).
How Norwich compares
| Norwich | 95.6% |
| East of England average | 86.1% |
| England average | 87% |
Norwich is 8.6 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Norwich?
Norwich is among the ten per cent most approving authorities in England, granting 95.6% of the applications it decides (rank 15th of 310). That puts it markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council — 95.6% approved against an England average of 87%. Within East of England it is the most approving of 45 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 86.1%. Refusals are rare here: 24 of its 546 decisions were refusals (4.4%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 83.3% of major developments approved versus 96% of householder and other small-scale work, from 6 major decisions.
On timing it is a little slower than average, deciding 86.1% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 546 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. It is more approving than its nearest East of England peer by rank, North Norfolk (94.1%). At the other end of East of England, Epping Forest is the strictest authority, approving 66.1%.
Compare Norwich with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in East of England. See the full East of England league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Norwich
Live planning activity in Norwich City Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 14 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Norwich City Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Norwich City Council
Recent applications in Norwich City Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Norwich page.
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Planning permission in Norwich: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Norwich?
On the latest official figures Norwich is markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council and among the ten per cent most approving authorities in England, approving 95.6% of the 546 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Norwich approve or refuse?
Refusals are rare here: 95.6% approved and 4.4% refused — 522 granted and 24 refused of 546 decisions, with major schemes approved at 83.3% and householder and other work at 96%.
How quickly does Norwich decide planning applications?
On timing Norwich is a little slower than average: 86.1% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Norwich stricter than nearby councils?
Norwich's 95.6% approval rate makes it the most approving of 45 authorities in East of England, against a 86.1% regional average. Neighbouring North Norfolk approves 94.1%.
Can I use Norwich's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Norwich 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 Norwich City 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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