Newark refuses just 1 in 15 planning applications, half the national refusal rate.
Newark and Sherwood council decided 2,233 planning applications across 2024 and 2025 and approved 93.5% of them, well above the 87.6% national rate. The refusal rate was just 6.5%, roughly 1 in 15, against a national rate of 12.4%. Retrospective work, applications for things already built, made up 1.8% of submissions against 3.7% nationally. The project mix is otherwise close to the national picture.
The year in one line
Newark and Sherwood approves 9 in 10 applications and refuses about 1 in 15, giving it one of the most permissive records in the country, while retrospective work runs at less than half the national share.
What Newark Is Building
Extensions lead a mix that tracks the national picture.
Home extensions were the most common project type submitted to Newark and Sherwood in 2025, at 23.7% of all applications, below the national share of 29.1%. Demolition followed at 9.4%, outbuildings at 4.5%, listed-building works at 2.4% and change of use to residential at 2.3%. No single category runs far above the national rate. The project mix within the Newark and Sherwood area is close to the national picture, led by extensions.
Applications submitted to Newark and Sherwood in 2025, by project type.
By the book
Retrospective applications, work done before permission was sought, made up 1.8% of submissions against 3.7% nationally. Newark and Sherwood sees this kind of after-the-fact application about 2.1 times less often than the country as a whole.
The council verdict
A very confident yes.
The council approved 93.5% of the applications it decided and refused just 6.5%, about 1 in 15. The national approval rate is 87.6% and the national refusal rate is 12.4%, roughly 1 in 8. Newark and Sherwood's record is markedly more permissive than the national average across both years.
About 1 in 15 Newark and Sherwood applications was turned down.
of decided applications were approved, well above the 87.6% national rate. Newark and Sherwood refuses about 1 in 15, against 1 in 8 nationally.
Newark vs The National Norm
Permissive council, fewer refusals, less retrospective work.
Set Newark and Sherwood's application mix against the national average and the clearest divergences are in how rarely things go wrong. The refusal rate of 6.5% is roughly half the national 12.4%. Dormers at 1.7% run at less than a third of their 6.0% national share. Retrospective work at 1.8% is about half the 3.7% national share. Home extensions at 23.7% sit below the 29.1% national share.
Newark and Sherwood files retrospective applications at 0.48 times the national share. Work is far more likely to have been approved before it begins than done first and regularised later.
Each bar is Newark and Sherwood's share of applications; the marker is the national share. Dormers and retrospective work are the clearest divergences.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices rose alongside the building work.
Permission is predictable here, and prices have kept climbing: the average Newark home sold for more than a quarter of a million pounds in the latest full year.
Newark and Sherwood is one of the more permissive local planning authorities in England. It approves more than 9 in 10 applications and refuses roughly 1 in 15, compared to 1 in 8 nationally. Residents also go by the book: retrospective work, where people build first and apply later, runs at less than half the national share. For anyone planning a project here, the evidence is clear: apply properly and the odds are firmly in your favour.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Newark and Sherwood council in 2025 (volume) and across 2024-2025 combined (rates and shares), classified from each application's published description. Shares are each category as a percentage of all submitted applications.
Decision Rates
Approval rate is approvals as a share of approvals plus refusals, computed over the 2024-2025 pooled window for stability. 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 Newark area, 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 Newark and Sherwood in 2025, from extensions and garden buildings to a refusal and a listed building conversion. Open any one to see its full record.
85 Fosse Road, Farndon NG24 3TL
A rear ground floor extension and a detached garage were proposed, the kind of home project Newark files most. The council granted it.
See this property's full record19 Thornhill Drive, Boughton NG22 9JG
A plan for two storey and single storey front and side extensions was turned down, one of the roughly 1 in 15 applications the council refused.
See this property's full recordRock House Newark Road, Wellow NG22 0EA
A proposal to renovate a Grade II building and convert a barn into a dwelling was withdrawn before the council reached a decision.
See this property's full record7 Pine Avenue, New Ollerton NG22 9PX
An outbuilding in the rear garden was approved, the garden-building work that is one of Newark's most common projects.
See this property's full record2 Grange Farm Mews Main Street, South Muskham NG23 6EE
A retrospective application for a new ceiling and structural support already installed was approved. Newark and Sherwood sees this after-the-fact work at less than half the national rate.
See this property's full record6 Hill Vue Avenue NG24 1PQ
A two storey rear extension with a loft conversion was approved, combining two of the home improvements seen across the town.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Newark?
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