County Durham Council approves 95.0% of planning applications, based on 14,377 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. County Durham sits 7.0 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 County Durham.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | 6,883 | 408 | 7,291 | 94.4% |
| Discharge of Conditions | 2,198 | 21 | 2,219 | 99.1% |
| Trees | 1,822 | 149 | 1,971 | 92.4% |
| Other | 933 | 41 | 974 | 95.8% |
| Listed Building | 640 | 13 | 653 | 98.0% |
| Prior Approval | 506 | 39 | 545 | 92.8% |
| Advertisement | 472 | 12 | 484 | 97.5% |
| Certificate of Lawfulness | 164 | 28 | 192 | 85.4% |
| Change of Use | 39 | 9 | 48 | 81.2% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elvet And Gilesgate | 766 | 54 | 820 | 93.4% |
| Barnard Castle West | 769 | 21 | 790 | 97.3% |
| Weardale | 692 | 37 | 729 | 94.9% |
| Neville's Cross | 640 | 50 | 690 | 92.8% |
| Barnard Castle East | 587 | 20 | 607 | 96.7% |
| Belmont | 412 | 19 | 431 | 95.6% |
| Sedgefield | 405 | 15 | 420 | 96.4% |
| Lanchester | 339 | 25 | 364 | 93.1% |
| Evenwood | 338 | 24 | 362 | 93.4% |
| Framwellgate And Newton Hall | 344 | 10 | 354 | 97.2% |
| Coxhoe | 303 | 16 | 319 | 95.0% |
| Leadgate And Medomsley | 298 | 20 | 318 | 93.7% |
| Bishop Auckland Town | 272 | 4 | 276 | 98.6% |
| Willington And Hunwick | 238 | 24 | 262 | 90.8% |
| Esh And Witton Gilbert | 253 | 7 | 260 | 97.3% |
| Shildon And Dene Valley | 238 | 13 | 251 | 94.8% |
| Deerness | 238 | 12 | 250 | 95.2% |
| Crook | 230 | 12 | 242 | 95.0% |
| West Auckland | 233 | 7 | 240 | 97.1% |
| Benfieldside | 212 | 12 | 224 | 94.6% |
| Tudhoe | 205 | 10 | 215 | 95.3% |
| Sherburn | 202 | 9 | 211 | 95.7% |
| Spennymoor | 205 | 6 | 211 | 97.2% |
| Brandon | 196 | 12 | 208 | 94.2% |
| Blackhalls | 188 | 18 | 206 | 91.3% |
Showing top 25 of 85 wards by volume. Your free property report includes the full ward breakdown.
See full ward breakdown →How County Durham’s planning approval rate has changed year by year — down 2.8pp since 2020.
Bar height reflects approval rate. Colour: green ≥85%, amber ≥70%, red below 70%.
Real residential planning decisions from County Durham council. Each reference links to the council's own planning portal so you can verify the details yourself.
| Reference | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| DM/26/00095/FPA Pelton | Single storey pitched roof extension to rear with flue. | Approved |
| DM/25/03604/FPA Belmont | Change of use from 1No 3 bedroom dwellinghouse to 2No 2 bedroom flats with singl | Refused |
| DM/25/02352/FPA Pelton | Proposed detached garage and main house extension including ground and first flo | Approved |
| DM/25/01963/FPA Consett South | Change of use from holiday let to unrestricted residential dwelling (Use class C | Approved |
| DM/25/00972/FPA Bishop Auckland | Conversion of first and second floor dwelling to 2no. two-bedroomed flats includ | Approved |
| DM/25/03533/FPA Neville's Cross | Raise height of single-storey rear roof to create accessible shower room, reloca | Approved |
| DM/25/03479/FPA Lanchester And Burnhope | Two storey side extension with balcony | Approved |
| DM/25/03449/FPA Derwent And Pont Valley | Change of use of existing shed to a dog grooming room. | Approved |
| DM/25/03330/FPA Bishop Auckland | Three rear garden outbuildings: retrospective garden room, a proposed shed and a | Approved |
| DM/25/00161/FPA Crook | Proposed Dwelling and Access | Refused |
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 County Durham's 14,377 real decisions. Free, emailed in minutes.
Check my postcodeCompare County Durham's planning approval rates with neighbouring areas:
Dig deeper into County Durham'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 County Durham. Enter your postcode to instantly see approval rates for your ward and application type, based on 14,377 real decisions from County Durham 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 County Durham'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 14,377 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in County Durham is 95.0%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 14,377 planning decisions from County Durham council. 13,657 were approved and 720 were refused. These figures cover decisions from January 2020 to the present.
The average approval rate in County Durham is 95.0%, 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.