County Durham vs Sevenoaks — planning approval compared

How do planning outcomes differ between County Durham and Sevenoaks? A side-by-side comparison based on 26,895 combined decisions.

Last updated: March 2026

County Durham: 95.0%

14,223 decisions · 13,506 approved · 717 refused · 113 wards

Sevenoaks: 86.8%

12,672 decisions · 10,993 approved · 1,679 refused · 27 wards

Overall approval rates

County Durham (14,223 decided)

95.0%

Sevenoaks (12,672 decided)

86.8%

By application type

Advertisement — County Durham (483 decided)

97.5%

Advertisement — Sevenoaks (84 decided)

89.3%

Certificate of Lawfulness — County Durham (191 decided)

85.3%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Sevenoaks (922 decided)

74.1%

Change of Use — County Durham (47 decided)

80.9%

Change of Use — Sevenoaks (71 decided)

69.0%

Discharge of Conditions — County Durham (2,215 decided)

99.1%

Discharge of Conditions — Sevenoaks (142 decided)

82.4%

Full — County Durham (7,275 decided)

94.4%

Full — Sevenoaks (5,255 decided)

83.3%

Listed Building — County Durham (652 decided)

98.0%

Listed Building — Sevenoaks (510 decided)

85.1%

Other — County Durham (974 decided)

95.8%

Other — Sevenoaks (3,341 decided)

90.3%

Prior Approval — County Durham (416 decided)

90.6%

Prior Approval — Sevenoaks (129 decided)

86.8%

Trees — County Durham (1,970 decided)

92.5%

Trees — Sevenoaks (2,218 decided)

96.1%

What the numbers mean

There is a 8.2 percentage point difference in overall approval rates between these councils. Sevenoaks is the stricter of the two, which means similar applications may face higher refusal risk there. However, approval rates vary by ward and application type, so your specific situation may differ from the averages.

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See detailed data

County Durham full data Sevenoaks full data