Bedford filed 2,256 planning applications in 2025. The council refused about 1 in 8.
Bedford Council received 2,256 planning applications submitted within the Bedford area in 2025, up from 2,218 in 2024. Of the 2,060 applications decided across 2024 and 2025, 13.1% were refused, against a national refusal rate of 12.4%. Bedford's refusal rate sits slightly above the norm but the mix of project types is broadly ordinary, led by home extensions at 24.3% of applications.
The year in one line
Bedford submitted 2,256 applications to its local planning authority in 2025, an ordinary mix led by home extensions, and the council refused about 1 in 8 of those decided, a rate slightly above the national average of 12.4%.
What Bedford Is Building
An ordinary mix of building work, led by extensions.
Home extensions were the most common project type submitted to Bedford Council in 2025, making up 24.3% of all applications against a national share of 29.1%. Demolition notices, dormers and loft conversions fill the next tier. No single project type clears the threshold to stand out against the national average: this is a standard mix of householder building work. What defines Bedford in the data is not what is proposed, but that slightly more of it is refused than the national norm.
Applications submitted to Bedford Council in 2025, by project type (2024-2025 pooled counts).
No outlier category
None of Bedford's busiest project types runs meaningfully above the national rate. The mix is broadly standard, which is why the story sits in the decision rate, not the project type.
The council verdict
A slightly harder yes than most.
Across the 2024-2025 decisions window, Bedford Council approved 86.9% of applications and refused 13.1%, about 1 in 8. The national refusal rate is 12.4%, so Bedford sits modestly above the norm. Of the 2,060 applications decided, 1,790 were approved, 270 refused, and 54 withdrawn before a decision was reached.
About 1 in 8 Bedford applications was turned down.
of decided applications were refused, about 1 in 8, against 12.4% nationally. Bedford's council says no slightly more often than the average English authority.
Bedford vs The National Norm
A broadly average mix, with a slightly above-average refusal rate.
Set Bedford's application mix against the national average and most categories track the norm closely. Extensions account for 24.3% of Bedford's applications versus 29.1% nationally; demolition is 5.8% versus 9.1%. Loft conversions and garage conversions run modestly above the national share but neither clears the threshold to stand out. The clearest number is the council's 13.1% refusal rate, compared to a national 12.4%.
Bedford applications were refused, a 13.1% rate against a 12.4% national norm. The project mix is ordinary; the slightly elevated refusal rate is the defining number.
Each bar is Bedford's share of applications; the marker is the national share. Figures based on 2024-2025 pooled applications.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices rose alongside the building work.
Permission may be harder to win here, but prices have kept climbing: the average Bedford home sold for more in the latest full year than the year before.
Bedford's 2025 planning data shows an active but unremarkable mix of building work. Extensions, demolitions and loft conversions dominate the application pile, and none of those categories runs far above or below the national norm. The council refuses about 1 in 8 applications, a modest step above the national rate. For anyone buying in Bedford with plans to build, the numbers suggest a reasonably straightforward planning environment, where preparation still matters but permission is far from unusual.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Bedford Council in 2025, classified from each application's published description. Category shares are computed over the 2024-2025 pooled window for statistical stability. Approval and refusal rates cover all applications with a decision in that period.
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 Bedford 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 decided in Bedford in the latest full year, from extensions and loft conversions to a garage conversion annexe and a change of use. Open any one to see its full record.
22 Galloway Close, Kempston MK42 7DX
A single-storey side extension to form an annexe was refused, one of the 270 applications turned down across the period.
See this property's full record2 Myrtle Road MK42 0QT
Permission was granted to clear an existing outbuilding and extension and build a new single-storey rear extension, the project type Bedford files most.
See this property's full record32 Arthur Black Way, Wootton MK43 9FJ
A loft conversion with a rear dormer was confirmed as not needing planning permission, one of the lawful-development certificates the council issues.
See this property's full record32 Church Road, Willington MK44 3QB
Permission was given to enlarge a detached garage and convert it into an annexe for sole use by a family member, one of 123 garage conversion applications in the period.
See this property's full record15 Alameda Road, Ampthill MK45 2LJ
Listed-building consent was granted to fit new log burners with flues and cowls and to repair and repoint a chimney in lime mortar.
See this property's full record36 Oak Tree Road, Ampthill MK45 2UH
A single-storey front extension paired with a loft conversion and rear dormer was approved, combining two of Bedford's most common project types.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Bedford?
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