Planning Approval Rate in South Tyneside
South Tyneside is markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council for planning permission: it approves 95.7% of applications and decides 97.3% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #14 of 310 English authorities. This is the approval-rate record for South Tyneside: 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 South Tyneside planning applications by postcode on PlanWatch.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 376 decisions (360 granted, 16 refused).
How South Tyneside compares
| South Tyneside | 95.7% |
| North East average | 91.7% |
| England average | 87% |
South Tyneside is 8.7 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in South Tyneside?
South Tyneside is among the ten per cent most approving authorities in England, granting 95.7% of the applications it decides (rank 14th of 310). That puts it markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council — 95.7% approved against an England average of 87%. Within North East it is the 3rd most approving of 14 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 91.7%. Refusals are rare here: 16 of its 376 decisions were refusals (4.3%). On the split by scale it is far tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 70% of major developments approved versus 96.4% of householder and other small-scale work, from 10 major decisions.
On timing it is among the faster authorities, deciding 97.3% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 376 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its North East neighbours it sits between North Tyneside (96%, more approving) and Hartlepool (94.3%, stricter). For context in North East, Redcar and Cleveland approves the most (96.7%) and Middlesbrough the least (77.2%).
Compare South Tyneside with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in North East. See the full North East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in South Tyneside
Live planning activity in South Tyneside 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 South Tyneside Council
Where planning activity concentrates in South Tyneside Council
Recent applications in South Tyneside Council
This is a sample, not the full register. Search South Tyneside planning applications by postcode.
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Planning permission in South Tyneside: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in South Tyneside?
On the latest official figures South Tyneside is markedly more likely to approve than the typical English council and among the ten per cent most approving authorities in England, approving 95.7% of the 376 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does South Tyneside approve or refuse?
Refusals are rare here: 95.7% approved and 4.3% refused — 360 granted and 16 refused of 376 decisions, with major schemes approved at 70% and householder and other work at 96.4%.
How quickly does South Tyneside decide planning applications?
On timing South Tyneside is among the faster authorities: 97.3% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is South Tyneside stricter than nearby councils?
South Tyneside's 95.7% approval rate makes it the 3rd most approving of 14 authorities in North East, against a 91.7% regional average. Neighbouring North Tyneside approves 96% and Hartlepool 94.3%.
Can I use South Tyneside's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application South Tyneside 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 South Tyneside 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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