Chorley demolishes and rebuilds at twice the national rate, and files retrospective applications 1.5 times as often.
Chorley Council received 1,192 planning applications in 2025, up 14% on the 1,049 submitted in 2024. Of the 2,003 applications decided across the two years, 91.9% were approved, well above the national rate of 87.6%. Demolition accounts for 20% of the application mix here, more than twice the national share. One in 18 applications is filed only after the building work has already been done.
The year in one line
Chorley approves applications at a higher rate than the national average, leads on demolition at 2.2 times the national share, and files retrospective applications at 1.5 times the national rate, the mark of a town that clears sites and often starts work before seeking consent.
What Chorley Is Building
Extensions lead, demolition runs high.
Home extensions were the most common project type submitted to Chorley Council in 2025, at 30.7% of all applications, slightly above the national norm of 29.1%. The figure that sets Chorley apart is demolition: 20.1% of the application mix, against a national average of 9.1%. Retrospective work, where consent is sought after the building is done, made up 5.7% of applications, 1.5 times the national rate. This is the application mix of a town actively clearing and rebuilding plots.
Applications submitted to Chorley Council in 2025, by project type.
The demolition effect
Chorley files demolition applications at 2.2 times the national rate and retrospective applications at 1.5 times. The town clears and rebuilds plots more often than most, and a share of that work reaches the council only after it has already begun.
The council verdict
A high approval rate, well above the national norm.
Chorley Council approved 91.9% of the applications it decided across 2024 and 2025, and refused 8.1%, about 1 in 12. Both sit favourably against the national average of 87.6% approved and 12.4% refused. The council is more permissive than most.
About 1 in 12 Chorley applications was turned down.
applications refused by Chorley Council, against a national rate of roughly 1 in 8. The council's 91.9% approval rate sits notably above the national norm of 87.6%.
Chorley vs The National Norm
A clear-and-rebuild town, by the numbers.
Set Chorley's application mix against the national average and one feature stands out above all others. Demolition features in 20.1% of applications within the Chorley Council area, 2.2 times the national share of 9.1%. Retrospective work runs at 1.5 times the national rate. Home extensions and outbuildings are also above the national norm. The one category notably below is dormers, which run at 0.6 times the national share.
Chorley files demolition applications at 2.2 times the national rate. One in five planning applications in the Chorley Council area relates to demolition work, against fewer than one in ten nationally.
Each bar is Chorley's share of applications submitted in 2025; the marker is the national share. Demolition is the town's defining outlier.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices rose alongside the building work.
The clearing and rebuilding came as values climbed: Chorley homes changed hands for more than they had the year before.
Chorley's planning data tells a clear story. This is a town that demolishes and rebuilds at twice the national rate, and where a share of that work reaches the council only after it has already started. The approval rate, at 91.9%, is well above the national norm, so getting a yes here is easier than most. The pattern to watch is demolition: no other category separates Chorley from the rest of England as sharply.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Chorley Council in 2025 (volume) and the pooled 2024-2025 window (rates and shares), classified from each application's published description. Shares are each category as a percentage of all applications in scope.
Decision Rates
Approval rate is approvals as a share of approvals plus refusals, computed over the 2024-2025 pooled window for stability. 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 Chorley 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 Chorley Council area, from demolition and rebuild work to extensions and retrospective cases. Open any one to see its full record.
289 Wigan Road, Euxton PR7 6LP
A detached outbuilding was approved to the side of the house, the clear-and-rebuild pattern that defines Chorley's application mix.
See this property's full record7 Castle House Lane, Adlington PR7 4DL
A single-storey side and rear extension was granted after an existing conservatory and extension were demolished to make way for it.
See this property's full record84a Gillibrand Walks PR7 2HF
A bid to confirm the existing use of the property as a self-contained dwelling, a retrospective certificate of lawfulness, was withdrawn before the council decided it.
See this property's full recordKinver House Winchester Avenue PR7 4AQ
A certificate of lawfulness for a proposed outbuilding, to follow demolition of an existing garage, was refused by the council.
See this property's full record41 Back Lane, Clayton Le Woods PR6 7QE
An application to reduce the crown of a protected oak tree was turned down, one of the roughly 1 in 12 cases the council refused.
See this property's full record463 Preston Road, Clayton Le Woods PR6 7JD
Single-storey front and rear extensions, the most common project type in Chorley, were approved.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Chorley?
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