Durham turns homes into shared houses at 4.1 times the national rate.
Durham Council received 992 planning applications in 2025 and approved 94.8% of those decided, well above the national rate of 87.6%. The application that sets the city apart is the HMO conversion: 5.0% of all applications submitted to Durham in 2025, against a national share of 1.2%. Refusals are rare, with about 1 in 19 turned down. This is the planning signature of a compact university city.
The year in one line
Durham approves planning work far more readily than the country as a whole and refuses just 1 in 19, but files HMO conversion applications at more than four times the national rate, the mark of a compact university city.
What Durham Is Building
Extensions lead, but shared houses set the city apart.
Home extensions were the most common project in the Durham Council area in 2025, at 20.5% of all applications, below the national norm of 29.1%. The figure that sets Durham apart is the HMO conversion, turning a family home into a shared house: 5.0% of applications, against a national average of 1.2%. Change of use to residential applications ran at 1.9 times the national rate. This is the application mix of a compact university city.
Applications submitted to Durham Council in 2025, by project type.
The shared-house effect
Durham files HMO conversion applications at 4.1 times the national rate. In a compact city with a large student population, converting family homes into shared housing is a defining feature of the planning workload.
The council verdict
A reliable yes.
Durham Council approved 94.8% of the applications it decided across 2024 and 2025 and refused 5.2%, a refusal rate well below the 12.4% national figure. With about 1 in 19 applications turned down, permission is easier to get here than in most of the country.
About 1 in 19 Durham applications was turned down.
applications were refused, against about 1 in 8 nationally. Durham's approval rate, at 94.8%, sits well above the national norm of 87.6%.
Durham vs The National Norm
A university city, by the numbers.
Set Durham's application mix against the national average and the student-housing effect is clear. HMO conversions feature in 5.0% of applications submitted to Durham Council, more than four times the national share of 1.2%. Extensions and demolition applications run well below the national rate. The categories Durham does less of are telling too: dormers are filed at one third the national rate.
Durham files HMO conversion applications at more than four times the national rate. In a compact university city, turning family homes into shared housing is a defining feature of the planning workload.
Each bar is Durham's share of applications submitted in 2025; the marker is the national share. HMO conversion is the city's defining outlier.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices held up alongside the building work.
Permission may be easier to win here, but Durham's homes still gained value over the year alongside the steady flow of building work.
Durham's planning data tells a clear story. This is a university city where the standout activity is the conversion of family homes into shared housing, at more than four times the national rate. Durham Council approved 94.8% of applications it decided and refused just 1 in 19, making it one of the more permissive authorities in England. For anyone buying here, the shared-housing market is the context to understand.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Durham Council in 2025, classified from each application's published description. Shares are each category as a percentage of all submitted applications. Approval and refusal rates are computed over the pooled 2024-2025 window for stability.
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 Durham 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 submitted to Durham Council, from HMO conversions to retrospective consents and refusals. Open any one to see its full record.
49 Sunderland Road DH1 2QG
A certificate confirming the property's lawful use as a house in multiple occupation was approved, the shared-housing change Durham files most.
See this property's full record9 Newcastle Terrace DH1 5EG
An application to confirm the continued use of the home as a shared house was turned down, one of the roughly 1 in 19 the council refused.
See this property's full record5 Hawthorn Crescent DH1 1ED
A two-storey side extension with a single-storey addition to the front was approved, the most common project type in Durham.
See this property's full record60 Dragonville DH1 2DX
A plan to split a single three-bed house into two flats with a rear extension was refused.
See this property's full record11 The Forge, Pity Me DH1 5RU
Permission was granted to remove an old rear conservatory and replace it with a single-storey extension.
See this property's full record26 Lawson Terrace DH1 4EW
A proposal to swap the front elevation's timber windows for UPVC sash units was turned down.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Durham?
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