Planning applications in Mid East Antrim

Planning in Mid East Antrim

Garden rooms and outbuildings dominate planning in Mid East Antrim. Of the more than 9,600 applications since 2016, 2,733 were for garden rooms and outbuildings, more than twice as many as the next kind of work. About 1 in 16 of those was refused, in line with the council’s overall rate of about 1 in 16 and well below the 1 in 7 seen across the areas we cover.

Home extensions are rarely refused here. Rear extensions, with 1,237 applications, were refused about 1 in 93 times, and side extensions, with 653, about 1 in 70. Front extensions and porches are about 1 in 83. Loft conversions and dormers are about 1 in 27, and fences, walls and gates about 1 in 19. Windows and doors, at about 1 in 15, and driveways and dropped kerbs, at about 1 in 16, are closer to the council’s overall rate. None of the 64 solar panel applications was refused.

The reasons for the refusals that do happen lean on the countryside. More than half of recent refusals, about five in ten, mention building outside towns and villages, and about four in ten say not enough information was supplied. About three in ten mention the look of the street or area. Highways and size or design each come up in about one in seven, and neighbours’ light and privacy in under one in ten. If your project sits in open countryside, that is the point to think about hardest, and a complete set of drawings and details is worth the effort.

Applications have slipped from their peak. The busiest year was 2021 with 1,075, while 2025 had 785, against an average of about 838 a year in the three years before. Refusals have risen: about 1 in 12 in 2025, compared with about 1 in 18 in the earlier years. That is still a gentler rate than the national picture, but it is a change worth knowing about.

Figures in this section as of 9 October 2026.