Lake District NPA planning approval rate
Lake District NPA council approved 91.3% of planning applications and refused 8.7%, based on 32,107 decisions analysed. Ranked 152nd out of 300 councils for strictness.
Last updated: August 2026 · Based on decisions from January 2020 to August 2026
91.3%
overall approval rate
32,107
Decisions analysed
29,320
Approved
2,787
Refused
178
Wards covered
Planning in Lake District NPA? Check your postcode to see approval rates specific to your ward and street.
Approval rate by application type
Different application types have different approval rates in Lake District NPA. Householder and full planning applications typically have the highest volume.
91.0%
91.2%
92.9%
99.2%
91.3%
88.5%
76.2%
Approval rate by project type
These rates are based on what homeowners are actually building in Lake District NPA, mined from 32,107 proposal descriptions.
93.9%
91.6%
93.1%
94.0%
80.1%
95.4%
89.5%
86.9%
95.7%
92.6%
94.5%
91.7%
95.5%
93.5%
100.0%
Approval rate by ward
Planning outcomes vary significantly by ward within Lake District NPA. Click any ward for detailed statistics.
Ambleside and Grasmere Ward
92.7%
Keswick Ward
92.6%
KESWICK WARD
91.7%
Ambleside & Grasmere Ward
87.9%
Bowness & Levens Ward
90.4%
Broughton & Coniston Ward
88.7%
Hawkshead Ward
95.0%
Lyth Valley Ward
93.5%
Staveley-in-Cartmel Ward
92.1%
ULLSWATER WARD
94.6%
Staveley-in-Westmorland Ward
91.4%
CRUMMOCK WARD
86.6%
Ullswater Ward
93.1%
Windermere Bowness
94.1%
Coniston and Crake Valley Ward
93.4%
Windermere and Ambleside Ward
91.3%
DERWENT VALLEY WARD
94.4%
Windermere Ward
92.8%
Windermere Bowness South Ward
92.2%
Windermere Applethwaite and Troutbeck WA
92.9%
Wards in Lake District NPA
Ambleside and Grasmere Ward
92.7% approval · 1,655 decisions
Keswick Ward
92.6% approval · 1,184 decisions
KESWICK WARD
91.7% approval · 1,100 decisions
Ambleside & Grasmere Ward
87.9% approval · 877 decisions
Bowness & Levens Ward
90.4% approval · 822 decisions
Broughton & Coniston Ward
88.7% approval · 793 decisions
Hawkshead Ward
95.0% approval · 717 decisions
Lyth Valley Ward
93.5% approval · 681 decisions
Staveley-in-Cartmel Ward
92.1% approval · 655 decisions
ULLSWATER WARD
94.6% approval · 632 decisions
Staveley-in-Westmorland Ward
91.4% approval · 618 decisions
CRUMMOCK WARD
86.6% approval · 612 decisions
Ullswater Ward
93.1% approval · 566 decisions
Windermere Bowness
94.1% approval · 525 decisions
Coniston and Crake Valley Ward
93.4% approval · 513 decisions
Windermere and Ambleside Ward
91.3% approval · 504 decisions
DERWENT VALLEY WARD
94.4% approval · 503 decisions
Windermere Ward
92.8% approval · 499 decisions
Windermere Bowness South Ward
92.2% approval · 498 decisions
Windermere Applethwaite and Troutbeck WA
92.9% approval · 467 decisions
Recent comparable decisions
The most recent residential planning decisions in Lake District NPA, showing how the council decides real applications.
Proposed first floor rear lightweight aluminium extension and front signage · Bowness and Lyth Ward · 2026-08-14
Proposed first floor rear lightweight aluminium extension and front signage · Bowness and Lyth Ward · 2026-08-14
New garage/store · Grange and Cartmel Ward · 2026-08-14
Showing 3 recent comparable decisions. See more in the full report →
What gets approved near your property?
In Lake District NPA, 1 in 11 applications are refused. Your PlanningLens Full Planning Analysis gives you 17 pages of intelligence specific to your property:
✓ Ward-level approval rates for your exact area
✓ Common refusal reasons in Lake District NPA
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free planning check for Lake District NPA →
✓ Common refusal reasons in Lake District NPA
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free. Based on 32,107 decisions.
Compare with nearby councils
Frequently asked questions about planning in Lake District NPA
What is the planning approval rate in Lake District NPA?
Based on 32,107 planning decisions analysed since 2020, Lake District NPA approved 91.3% of applications and refused 8.7%. The council is ranked 152nd out of 300 UK councils for approval rate.
How many planning applications are refused in Lake District NPA?
Lake District NPA refuses 8.7% of planning applications, roughly 1 in 11. That is lower than the UK average of 11.4%. Out of 32,107 decided applications since 2020, 2,787 were refused. PlanningLens lets you check any postcode to see which applications were refused near a specific property.
Which areas of Lake District NPA have the highest planning approval rates?
The highest approval rates in Lake District NPA are in Windermere Bowness North Ward (98.8%), ASKHAM WARD (96.1%), and Warnell Ward (95.9%). Approval rates vary significantly by ward, see the full ward breakdown above.
What types of planning application are most common in Lake District NPA?
The most common planning application types in Lake District NPA are: Full (20,993 decisions, 91.0% approved), Other (4,685, 91.2%), and Listed Building (2,083, 92.9%).
How long does a planning application take in Lake District NPA?
Planning applications in Lake District NPA take an average of 8.8 weeks to reach a decision, measured across 3,857 decisions with a recorded timeline. That is slower than the 8-week statutory target for householder applications (the statutory targets are 8 weeks for householder applications and 13 weeks for major developments). PlanningLens measures the actual time each application takes, not just the target. Lake District NPA decides approximately 5,351 planning applications per year.
How do I check planning applications in Lake District NPA?
You can search planning applications in Lake District NPA directly on the council's official planning portal. PlanningLens also lets you check any postcode against 32,107 historical decisions in Lake District NPA to see what's been approved and refused near a specific property.
How is PlanningLens approval rate data for Lake District NPA calculated?
PlanningLens scrapes Lake District NPA's official planning portal and analyses every published decision since January 2020. The approval rate is calculated as approved decisions divided by total decided applications, excluding withdrawn and pending applications. The full methodology, data sourcing, and Creative Commons BY 4.0 licensing terms are published at planninglens.co.uk/methodology.