Darlington refuses just 1 in 15 planning applications. Conservation-area work runs at nearly 4 times the national rate.
Darlington Council received 1,032 planning applications in 2025, up 13% on 2024. Of the 648 that received a decision, 93.4% were approved, well above the national norm of 87.6%. Only 6.6% were refused, against 12.4% nationally. The town's application mix carries a clear heritage stamp: conservation-area work features in 1 in 14 applications here, nearly four times the national share.
The year in one line
Darlington approved 93.4% of decided applications in 2025, refusing just 1 in 15 against 1 in 8 nationally, with conservation-area work at nearly four times the national share.
What Darlington Is Building
Extensions lead, but the heritage stamp stands out.
Home extensions were the most common project in the Darlington Council area in 2025, at 23.9% of all applications, below the national norm of 29.1%. What sets the town apart is its heritage profile: conservation-area work accounted for 7.0% of applications, nearly four times the national 1.9%, and listed-building work added a further 5.1% against 2.4% nationally. Demolition also featured heavily at 13.0%, above the 9.1% national share.
Applications submitted to Darlington Council in 2025, by project type.
Heritage in focus
Conservation-area work runs at 3.7 times the national rate and listed-building work at 2.1 times. Together they account for 1 in 8 applications submitted in the Darlington Council area.
The council verdict
A permissive council.
Darlington approved 93.4% of the applications it decided and refused just 6.6%, against 12.4% nationally. Only 1 in 15 applications was turned down, roughly half the national refusal rate of 1 in 8.
About 1 in 15 Darlington applications was turned down.
of applications were refused, against 12.4% nationally. That is about 1 in 15, where the rest of the country refuses 1 in 8.
Darlington vs The National Norm
A heritage-heavy mix, with a permissive council.
Set Darlington's application mix against the national average and the heritage categories dominate. Conservation-area work features in 1 in 14 applications here, nearly four times the national share. Listed-building work runs at twice the norm. Demolition also sits above its national rate. Home extensions, the most common category, come in below the national share, suggesting the town's planning workload leans more towards its historic built environment than new residential additions.
Darlington files conservation-area applications at nearly four times the national rate, the widest gap in its application mix.
Each bar is Darlington's share of applications submitted in 2025; the marker is the national share. Conservation-area work is the town's defining outlier.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices rose alongside the building work.
Permission is comparatively easy to win here, and prices climbed too: the average Darlington home sold for well below the national figure but still gained ground over the year.
Darlington's planning data tells a clear story. The council says yes more often than the national average, turning down just 1 in 15 applications against 1 in 8 nationally. But the more distinctive feature is the heritage mix: conservation-area and listed-building applications together account for 1 in 8 of all submissions, at multiples well above the national norm. This is a town where the historic built environment is active, and where permission is comparatively easy to get.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Darlington Council in 2025, classified from each application's published description. Shares are each category as a percentage of all applications. Decision rates are of the 648 applications that received a decision.
Decision Rates
Approval rate is approvals as a share of approvals plus refusals. The national benchmarks are computed the same way across all decided applications in England and Wales.
Sales Data
HM Land Registry Price Paid Data for the Darlington post town, the latest full year's completions, with growth measured against the previous year.
The Real Applications
Open the planning applications behind the numbers.
These are real applications submitted to Darlington Council in 2025, from conservation-area and listed-building consents to a retrospective filing and a refusal. Open any one to see its full record.
24 Helmsley Moor Way DL1 4QS
A Portakabin already placed in the front and side garden was approved after the fact, one of 36 retrospective applications submitted in the Darlington Council area.
See this property's full record3 Romangate, Middleton St George DL2 1FG
Vehicle access gates and a paved garden path, both already installed, were granted retrospective consent, another built-first application the council approved.
See this property's full record9 Whitemeadows DL3 8SR
A bid to confirm a single-storey extension behind the garage was lawful was turned down, one of the roughly 1 in 15 applications the council refused.
See this property's full record24 Sanderson Road, Hurworth DL2 2AU
A single-storey rear extension with a roof lantern was approved alongside a part conversion of the garage into living space.
See this property's full record39 Bracken Road DL3 9LX
Permission was given to turn an integral garage into a one-bed annexe, one of 26 garage conversion applications submitted in the Darlington Council area.
See this property's full record132 The Broadway DL1 1EL
A single-storey rear extension, the most common project type submitted to Darlington Council in 2025, was approved.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Darlington?
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