Basildon converts garages to living space at 1.7 times the national rate. It is the town's clearest break from the national planning norm.
Basildon Council received 1,561 planning applications in 2025, up from 1,400 in 2024. Of the 2,573 applications decided across 2024 and 2025, 86.8% were approved and 13.2% refused, broadly in line with the national rate of about 1 in 8 refused. One category stands apart: garage conversions, submitted at 4.2% of all applications against a national share of 2.4%, making Basildon 1.7 times the national norm. Home extensions were the dominant project at 30.4%.
The year in one line
Basildon received 1,561 applications in 2025, approved at the national rate, and stands out for garage conversions at nearly double the national share, with dormers also above the norm.
What Basildon Is Building
Extensions lead, with garage conversions the standout category.
Home extensions were the most common project submitted to Basildon Council, at 30.4% of all applications, ahead of the national norm of 29.1%. Dormers followed at 8.6%. The category that marks Basildon out is garage conversions: 124 applications, or 4.2% of the total, against a national share of 2.4%, making this town 1.7 times the national rate. The rest of the project mix tracks the national picture closely.
Applications submitted to Basildon Council in 2024-2025, by project type. Counts are pooled across both years for stability.
The garage conversion effect
Basildon submits garage conversion applications at 1.7 times the national rate, 4.2% of all cases against 2.4% nationally. These are homes where owners are choosing to expand their living space from within rather than build outwards.
The council verdict
A standard verdict from the council.
Of the 2,573 applications decided across 2024 and 2025, Basildon approved 86.8% and refused 13.2%, a refusal rate of about 1 in 8. This sits broadly in line with the national rates of 87.6% approved and 12.4% refused. The council's approval rate is not the story here.
About 1 in 8 Basildon applications was turned down.
Basildon applications are refused, matching the national norm. Of 2,573 decided cases, 339 were turned down and 2,234 were approved.
Basildon vs The National Norm
Mostly in line, with garage conversions the clear exception.
Set Basildon's application mix against the national average and most categories fall close to the norm. Home extensions at 30.4% run just ahead of the national 29.1%, and dormers at 8.6% are above the 6.0% national share. The clearest divergence is garage conversions at 4.2% against 2.4% nationally. Demolition applications, at 7.3%, run below the 9.1% national share.
Basildon submits garage conversion applications at nearly double the national rate, 4.2% of all cases against 2.4% nationally, the town's clearest break from the national norm.
Each bar is Basildon's share of applications submitted in 2024-2025; the marker is the national share. Garage conversions are the town's defining divergence.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices rose alongside the building work.
Permission tracks the national norm here, but prices have been climbing: the average Basildon home sold for a good deal more than the year before.
Basildon's planning data is broadly steady. The council approves at the national rate, and the overall mix is close to the norm. The one finding that stands apart is how often residents are converting their garages into living space, at nearly double the national share. That reflects a town choosing to adapt the homes it has rather than extend them outwards.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Basildon Council in 2025 (volume) and pooled across 2024 and 2025 (shares and rates), classified from each application's published description. Shares are each category as a percentage of all applications in the pool.
Decision Rates
Approval rate is approvals as a share of approvals plus refusals across the pooled 2024-2025 decided caseload. 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 Basildon 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 in the Basildon Council area in 2025, from garage conversions and retrospective filings to extensions, HMO conversions and a pair of refusals. Open any one to see its full record.
11 Saling Green SS15 4AS
A garage conversion application in a town that submits them at nearly double the national rate. The council granted it.
See this property's full record90 Craylands SS14 3RH
A rear outbuilding was put up first and the retrospective application followed. The council granted it.
See this property's full record93 Gordon Road SS14 1PL
The lawfulness of an existing house in multiple occupation for up to four people was confirmed by the council.
See this property's full record5 Grove Avenue, Langdon Hills SS16 6HJ
A single storey rear extension with front porch and garden landscaping, the kind of home extension that tops Basildon's caseload at 30.4% of all applications, was approved.
See this property's full record60 Montague Street SS14 3JG
A plan for two front dormer windows and two roof lights was turned down, one of the roughly 1 in 8 applications the council refused.
See this property's full record13 Sparrows Herne SS16 5JH
A bid to change a family home into a residential children's care home was refused by the council.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Basildon?
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