Planning Approval Rate in Sunderland
Sunderland is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 91% of applications and decides 96.4% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #107 of 310 English authorities. This is the approval-rate record for Sunderland: 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 Sunderland planning applications by postcode on PlanWatch.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 578 decisions (526 granted, 52 refused).
How Sunderland compares
| Sunderland | 91% |
| North East average | 91.7% |
| England average | 87% |
Sunderland is 4 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Sunderland?
Sunderland is a little more approving than the median English authority, granting 91% of the applications it decides (rank 107th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 91% approved against an England average of 87%. Within North East it is the 8th most approving of 14 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 91.7%. Refusals are uncommon here: 52 of its 578 decisions were refusals (9%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 91.7% of major developments approved versus 91.5% of householder and other small-scale work, from 36 major decisions.
On timing it is a little faster than average, deciding 96.4% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 578 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 Newcastle upon Tyne (92.3%, more approving) and Gateshead (90.4%, stricter). For context in North East, Redcar and Cleveland approves the most (96.7%) and Middlesbrough the least (77.2%).
Compare Sunderland with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in North East. See the full North East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Sunderland
Live planning activity in Sunderland
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 Sunderland
Where planning activity concentrates in Sunderland
Recent applications in Sunderland
This is a sample, not the full register. Search Sunderland planning applications by postcode.
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Planning permission in Sunderland: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Sunderland?
On the latest official figures Sunderland is somewhat more approving than the England average and a little more approving than the median English authority, approving 91% of the 578 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Sunderland approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 91% approved and 9% refused — 526 granted and 52 refused of 578 decisions, with major schemes approved at 91.7% and householder and other work at 91.5%.
How quickly does Sunderland decide planning applications?
On timing Sunderland is a little faster than average: 96.4% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Sunderland stricter than nearby councils?
Sunderland's 91% approval rate makes it the 8th most approving of 14 authorities in North East, against a 91.7% regional average. Neighbouring Newcastle upon Tyne approves 92.3% and Gateshead 90.4%.
Can I use Sunderland's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Sunderland 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 Sunderland 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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