Great Yarmouth Council refuses just 1 in 117 planning applications, among the lowest refusal rates in the country.
Great Yarmouth Council received 921 planning applications in 2025 and, across the 1,522 decided applications in 2024-2025, approved 99.1% of them. The refusal rate stands at 0.9%, about 1 in 117, against a national rate of 12.4%. The town also files retrospective applications at 1.5 times the national rate. This is a council where permission is almost always granted.
The year in one line
Great Yarmouth Council approved 99.1% of decided applications in 2024-2025, refusing just 1 in 117, far below the national refusal rate of 12.4%, while retrospective applications ran at 1.5 times the national share.
What Great Yarmouth Is Building
Extensions lead, with retrospective work standing out above the national rate.
Home extensions were the most common project type submitted to Great Yarmouth Council in 2025, at 22.5% of all applications, below the national norm of 29.1%. The category that sets the town apart is retrospective applications, filed at 5.7% of the mix against 3.7% nationally, 1.5 times the national share. Demolition accounts for 9.6% of the mix, broadly in line with the national figure, and conservation-area works appear at a slightly elevated 2.4% against 1.9% nationally.
Applications submitted to Great Yarmouth Council in 2025, by project type.
Builds first, asks later
Retrospective applications, at 5.7% of the mix against 3.7% nationally, are the only category that stands out at 1.5 times the national share. The town builds first and seeks permission afterwards more than the rest of the country.
The council verdict
An almost certain yes.
Great Yarmouth Council approved 99.1% of the applications it decided across 2024-2025 and refused just 0.9%, a refusal rate far below the national average of 12.4%. Getting permission here is about as close to a certainty as the planning system allows.
About 1 in 117 Great Yarmouth applications was turned down.
applications were refused, against a national rate of about 1 in 8. Great Yarmouth's approval rate, at 99.1%, is far above the national norm of 87.6%.
Great Yarmouth vs The National Norm
One clear divergence: builds first, asks later.
Set Great Yarmouth's application mix against the national average and one category stands out. Retrospective applications, where work is done before permission is sought, run at 5.7% of the mix here against 3.7% nationally, 1.5 times the national share. Extensions are below the national norm at 22.5% against 29.1%, and demolition is broadly in line at 9.6% against 9.1%. Conservation-area works appear slightly above the national share at 2.4% against 1.9%.
Great Yarmouth files retrospective applications, where work is completed before planning permission is sought, at 1.5 times the national rate.
Each bar is Great Yarmouth's share of applications submitted in 2025; the marker is the national share. Retrospective is the town's defining divergence above the norm.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices rose alongside the building work.
Permission may be comparatively easy to win here, and prices have moved with the building activity rather than against it.
Great Yarmouth's planning data tells a striking story. The council refused just 13 applications out of 1,522 decided across 2024 and 2025, a refusal rate of 0.9%, far below the national figure of 12.4%. Retrospective applications, where owners build first and seek permission afterwards, run at 1.5 times the national share. For anyone buying or developing in Great Yarmouth, the planning system is about as permissive as it gets.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Great Yarmouth Council in 2025. Shares are each category as a percentage of all applications. Decision rates are computed over the pooled 2024-2025 window for statistical stability.
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 Great Yarmouth 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 Great Yarmouth Council in 2025, from retrospective HMO conversions and completed extensions to demolitions and conservation-area works. Open any one to see its full record.
37 Crown Road NR30 2JH
A retrospective application sought to keep a building in use as a four-person, four-bedroom house in multiple occupation, the kind of case Great Yarmouth files at 1.5 times the national rate.
See this property's full record23 Wellesley Road NR30 2AR
A plan proposed converting a house into three self-contained one-bedroom flats with a part two-storey rear extension, typical of the change-of-use activity in the town.
See this property's full recordAshurst Lovers Lane, Ludham NR29 5PE
The council approved a new front porch, a repositioned entrance door and window changes to a home in the surrounding villages.
See this property's full record31 Mill Lane, Bradwell NR31 8HH
An application proposed a front, side and rear extension along with a new pitched roof and a rear dormer, one of the larger extension schemes in the year.
See this property's full record230 Lowestoft Road, Gorleston NR31 6JQ
A plan to demolish an existing conservatory and add a single-storey rear extension, representing the most common project type submitted to the council.
See this property's full record58 Beccles Road, Bradwell NR31 8HF
An application sought a new vehicular access off Beccles Road with a turning area and a detached garage in the front garden.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Great Yarmouth?
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