Planning Approval Rate in Yorkshire Dales National Park

Yorkshire Dales National Park is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 92% of the applications it decides (rank 89th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 92% approved against an England average of 87%. Within National Parks it is the 5th most approving of 10 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 91.2%. Refusals are uncommon here: 36 of its 450 decisions were refusals (8%). On the split by scale it is far tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 0% of major developments approved versus 94.5% of householder and other small-scale work, from 1 major decision.

On timing it is among the slower authorities, deciding 82% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 450 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 Exmoor National Park (92.5%, more approving) and New Forest National Park (91.9%, stricter). For context in National Parks, Northumberland National Park approves the most (94.6%) and Peak District National Park the least (86.5%).