Barnsley Council approves 90.0% of planning applications, based on 24,616 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Barnsley sits 2.0 percentage points above the national average.
Enter your postcode for a free, personalised approval pattern report — based on your ward and application type.
Not all applications are treated equally. Extension types, listed building consent, and change of use applications each have very different success rates in Barnsley.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | 22,158 | 2,458 | 24,616 | 90.0% |
A loft conversion in one ward can have a 90% approval rate. In the next ward, 55%. The free check tells you which side you're on — your free property report is emailed in minutes.
Check My PostcodeWard-level data reveals where planning applications are most and least likely to succeed. Officers, local policies, and neighbourhood character all play a role.
| Ward | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penistone East | 2,556 | 266 | 2,822 | 90.6% |
| Central | 1,606 | 138 | 1,744 | 92.1% |
| Penistone Ward, Penistone West | 1,475 | 174 | 1,649 | 89.4% |
| Dodworth | 1,118 | 127 | 1,245 | 89.8% |
| Darton East | 1,066 | 143 | 1,209 | 88.2% |
| Darton West | 1,034 | 105 | 1,139 | 90.8% |
| Hoyland Milton | 987 | 109 | 1,096 | 90.1% |
| Rockingham | 972 | 87 | 1,059 | 91.8% |
| North East | 903 | 116 | 1,019 | 88.6% |
| Old Town | 892 | 108 | 1,000 | 89.2% |
| Darfield | 852 | 112 | 964 | 88.4% |
| Royston | 801 | 119 | 920 | 87.1% |
| Wombwell | 841 | 73 | 914 | 92.0% |
| Worsbrough | 780 | 95 | 875 | 89.1% |
| Stairfoot | 793 | 58 | 851 | 93.2% |
| Cudworth | 721 | 89 | 810 | 89.0% |
| Monk Bretton | 736 | 73 | 809 | 91.0% |
| Dearne North | 705 | 73 | 778 | 90.6% |
| Penistone West | 615 | 95 | 710 | 86.6% |
| Dearne South | 615 | 61 | 676 | 91.0% |
| Kingstone | 483 | 104 | 587 | 82.3% |
| St Helens | 550 | 36 | 586 | 93.9% |
| NA | 393 | 15 | 408 | 96.3% |
| Penistone East Ward, Penistone | 280 | 48 | 328 | 85.4% |
| Darton West, Old Town | 40 | 1 | 41 | 97.6% |
Showing top 25 of 46 wards by volume. Your free property report includes the full ward breakdown.
See full ward breakdown →Real residential planning decisions from Barnsley council. Each reference links to the council's own planning portal so you can verify the details yourself.
| Reference | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 2026/0001 Penistone East | Demolition of pre-fabricated outbuilding (Listed Building Consent) | Approved |
| 2026/0004 Penistone East | Single storey front extension to dwelling | Approved |
| 2026/0010 Darton West | Erection of two storey/single storey rear extension to dwelling (Amended Descrip | Approved |
| 2026/0015 Cudworth | Installation of air source heat pump to rear of the dwelling and retrospective a | Approved |
| 2026/0016 Penistone East | Removal of existing first-floor balcony and erection of part single storey and p | Approved |
| 2026/0020 Old Town | Lawful Development Certificate for the proposed use of the dwellinghouse (curren | Approved |
| 2026/0024 Dearne North | Demolition of existing corridor link and the erection of a new corridor will be, | Approved |
| 2026/0025 Penistone East | Erection of 1st storey rear extension above existing single storey extension to | Approved |
| 2026/0026 Darton West | Erection of new detached garage to replace existing and add an hard surface driv | Approved |
| 2026/0030 Monk Bretton | Proposed single storey side extension and flue to dwelling | Approved |
Find out what actually gets approved near your address first. Your free property report analyses the 20 nearest decisions to your property, ward-specific refusal patterns, and extension-by-extension approval patterns. Based on Barnsley's 24,616 real decisions. Free, emailed in minutes.
Check my postcodeCompare Barnsley's planning approval rates with neighbouring areas:
Dig deeper into Barnsley's planning statistics — by ward, extension type, or project category:
Data-driven guides to help you understand planning approval patterns:
Yes. PlanningLens offers a free planning permission check for Barnsley. Enter your postcode to instantly see approval rates for your ward and application type, based on 24,616 real decisions from Barnsley council. The full property-specific report is also free and emailed within minutes.
Enter your postcode on PlanningLens for a free instant check based on Barnsley's real planning decisions. The free property report goes further: it analyses the 20 nearest comparable decisions to your property, ward-level refusal patterns, and approval rates by application type. Free and emailed within minutes.
Based on 24,616 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in Barnsley is 90.0%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 24,616 planning decisions from Barnsley council. 22,158 were approved and 2,458 were refused. These figures cover decisions from January 2020 to the present.
The average approval rate in Barnsley is 90.0%, but outcomes depend heavily on your specific ward, the type of extension or development you are proposing, and local planning policy. Use the free PlanningLens postcode check to get a personalised score.