Burnley refuses more applications than the national average. Its refusal rate is 15.5%, about 1 in 6.
Burnley Council decided 703 planning applications across 2024 and 2025 and refused 15.5% of them, against a national refusal rate of 12.4%. That works out to roughly 1 in 6 applications turned down, compared with about 1 in 8 nationally. The 469 applications submitted in 2025 include a striking concentration of HMO conversions, running at 3.3 times the national rate, and a sharp shortage of loft conversion activity relative to the rest of England and Wales.
The year in one line
Burnley Council refused 15.5% of decided applications in 2024-2025, above the national rate of 12.4%, with HMO conversions submitted at 3.3 times the national share.
What Burnley Is Building
HMO conversions stand out at 3.3 times the national rate.
Home extensions were the most common application, at 26.7% of all submissions, slightly below the national share of 29.1%. The more striking pattern is the volume of HMO conversions: 39 applications at 4.1% of all submissions, against 1.2% nationally. Change of use to residential also ran well above the norm at 4.2% versus 2.2% nationally. Demolition, by contrast, came in at just 4.9% against a national share of 9.1%.
Applications submitted to Burnley Council in 2025, by project type (2024-2025 pooled counts).
The headline category
HMO conversions account for 4.1% of all applications, 3.3 times the national share of 1.2%. Change of use to residential also ran above the norm, at 1.9 times the national rate.
The council verdict
A council that refuses more than most.
The council approved 84.5% of the applications it decided and refused 15.5%, placing its refusal rate above the national average of 12.4%. That equates to roughly 1 in 6 applications turned down. The retrospective share, at 3.8%, sits in line with the national 3.7%.
About 1 in 6 Burnley applications was turned down, above the national rate.
of decided applications were refused, against a national refusal rate of 12.4%. About 1 in 6 applications did not get permission.
Burnley vs The National Norm
HMO conversions at 3.3x the national rate, demolition well below.
Set Burnley's application mix against the national average and two clear divergences emerge. HMO conversions run at 4.1% of applications versus 1.2% nationally, a 3.3x multiple. Change of use to residential is also well above at 4.2% versus 2.2% nationally. Going the other way, demolition accounts for just 4.9% of Burnley applications against 9.1% nationally, and home extensions sit slightly below the national share at 26.7% versus 29.1%.
Burnley files HMO conversion applications at 3.3 times the national rate, its largest divergence from the norm. Change of use to residential runs at 1.9 times the national share.
Each bar is Burnley's share of applications; the marker is the national share. HMO conversions are the town's largest divergence from the norm.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices rose sharply alongside the building work.
Building work in Burnley sits within one of the more affordable markets in the country, where prices climbed strongly over the year.
Burnley's planning data has two clear stories. The council is more likely to refuse an application than in most parts of England and Wales, with a 15.5% refusal rate against the national 12.4%. And the type of project being submitted is distinctive: HMO conversions run at more than three times the national share, reflecting strong demand to convert homes into shared accommodation. For anyone planning a project in Burnley, both of those facts are worth knowing before they apply.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Burnley Council in 2025 (volume) and decided across 2024-2025 (rates and shares), classified from each application's published description. Shares are each category as a percentage of all applications in the pooled window.
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 Burnley 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 decided in Burnley in the latest full year, from the HMO conversions that stand out in the data to refused extensions and change-of-use cases. Open any one to see its full record.
89 Eastern Avenue BB10 2AU
A front extension plus two-storey side and rear wraparound extensions, representing the home extensions that still lead the town's application mix.
See this property's full record86 Blackburn Road, Padiham BB12 8JZ
A single-storey rear extension confirmed as lawful development, one of the many extensions that make up over a quarter of the town's applications.
See this property's full record10 Manders Close BB12 6ER
A garage conversion with a widened driveway was approved with conditions, the kind of smaller project in the town's mix.
See this property's full record361 Briercliffe Road BB10 2NL
A hip-to-gable loft conversion confirmed as lawful development, from a category Burnley files at a fraction of the national rate.
See this property's full record27 Rosehill Road BB11 2JT
A single-storey side extension was turned down, one of the roughly 1 in 6 applications the council refused, above the national rate.
See this property's full record164 Leyland Road BB11 3DS
A bid to confirm a change of use from a home to a children's home was refused, one of the year's change-of-use applications that did not pass.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Burnley?
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