Planning applications in Doncaster

Planning in Doncaster

Doncaster is lenient compared with the areas we cover, but its recent record has tightened. Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council has decided more than 26,000 planning applications since 2016, and about 1 in 14 was refused, against about 1 in 7 across the areas we cover. In 2025, the refusal rate was about 1 in 8, higher than the 1 in 10 of the three years before. It received 2,085 applications that year, against an average of 2,272 a year in the three years before, and the busiest year on record was 2021 with 3,065.

Most neighbours are stricter. Rotherham refuses about 1 in 8, Barnsley about 1 in 9 and Bassetlaw about 1 in 5. East Riding, at about 1 in 13, is much the same as Doncaster, and North Yorkshire, at about 1 in 83, is far more lenient.

Home extensions fare well. Rear extensions are the biggest category with more than 5,000 applications, and about 1 in 29 was refused. Side extensions are refused about 1 in 25, windows and doors about 1 in 26 and front extensions and porches about 1 in 20. Garden rooms and outbuildings, with more than 3,000 applications, are refused about 1 in 16, and loft conversions and dormers about 1 in 17, against about 1 in 5 for lofts across the areas we cover. Solar panels, at about 1 in 16, also do better than the council’s average.

The harder projects are different. Fences, walls and gates are refused about 1 in 9 times and driveways and dropped kerbs about 1 in 8, both more often than the rest of Doncaster’s work, even though they are still better than the 1 in 7 and 1 in 5 seen across the areas we cover. If you are planning a new boundary or a dropped kerb, it is worth looking at what has been approved on nearby streets before you apply.

Doncaster has 46 conservation areas and 798 listed buildings, which is worth bearing in mind if your home is listed or in a conservation area, particularly for materials, windows and anything visible from the street.

Figures in this section as of 9 October 2026.