Gloucester logs HMO conversions at 2.6 times the national rate. Extensions dominate, but shared housing is the standout.
Gloucester City Council received 844 planning applications in 2025. Of the 1,289 applications decided across 2024 and 2025, 85.1% were approved and 14.9% refused, about 1 in 7. The refusal rate sits a little above the national 12.4%, but the defining feature of Gloucester's casework is its HMO conversion rate: at 3.2% of applications, it is 2.6 times the national share of 1.2%.
The year in one line
Gloucester's casework is led by home extensions at 35.9% of applications, but the standout is HMO conversions running at 2.6 times the national share, the only robust category that clearly separates Gloucester from the rest of the country.
What Gloucester Is Building
Extensions lead the caseload; HMOs are the outlier.
Home extensions were by far the most common application submitted to Gloucester City Council in 2025, at 35.9% of the pooled 2024-2025 casework, above the national share of 29.1%. Demolition followed at 6.1%, then dormers at 4.4%. HMO conversions, at 3.2%, ran at 2.6 times the national share of 1.2% and are the one robust category that clearly distinguishes Gloucester from the national picture. These shares describe what was submitted to the council, not total demand.
Applications submitted to Gloucester City Council in 2025 (pooled 2024-2025), by project type.
The outlier
HMO conversions made up 3.2% of applications in Gloucester, 2.6 times the national share of 1.2%. With 51 applications in the pooled period, this is a robust finding, not a statistical artefact.
The council verdict
A refusal rate slightly above the national norm.
Of the 1,289 applications decided across 2024 and 2025, 1,097 were approved and 192 refused. The approval rate of 85.1% sits below the national 87.6%, and the refusal rate of 14.9% is above the national 12.4%. About 1 in 7 applications is turned down, where nationally about 1 in 8 is refused.
About 1 in 7 Gloucester applications was turned down.
refused, against a national rate of 12.4%. Gloucester says no to roughly 1 in 7 applications, where the country as a whole says no to about 1 in 8.
Gloucester vs The National Norm
An extension city with a marked HMO surplus.
Set Gloucester's application mix against the national average and the HMO conversion share stands out immediately. At 3.2% of applications it is 2.6 times the national 1.2%, the only robust category where Gloucester clearly departs from the norm. Home extensions run above the national share, demolition runs below it, and both dormers and retrospective applications sit below the national rate. The refusal rate, at 14.9%, is a little above the national 12.4%.
Gloucester's HMO conversion rate is 2.6 times the national share: 3.2% of applications here against 1.2% nationally. No other robust category departs from the norm by as much.
Each bar is Gloucester's share of applications; the marker is the national share. HMO conversions are the defining outlier category.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices kept climbing alongside the casework.
Permission may be a little harder to win here than the national average, but prices have not waited: the average Gloucester home gained ground over the year.
Gloucester's planning data shows a city where extending existing homes is by far the dominant activity, but the real story is HMO conversions running at 2.6 times the national share. Whether that reflects student demand, affordability pressure or investor activity, it is a clear signal of how housing in Gloucester is being adapted. The refusal rate is a little above average, so anyone pursuing an HMO conversion or extension should go in with a well-prepared application.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Gloucester City Council in 2025; shares and rates computed over the pooled 2024-2025 period for stability. Classified from each application's published description.
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 Gloucester 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 Gloucester in the latest full year, from the home extensions that dominate the casework to HMO conversions and refusals. Open any one to see its full record.
34 Hartington Road GL1 5TJ
A single-storey rear extension, the most common project type in Gloucester, was granted permission.
See this property's full record7 Court Gardens, Hempsted GL2 5JX
Permission was granted for a two-storey side and rear extension, a single-storey side extension and a new front porch.
See this property's full record4 Welveland Lane, Barnwood GL4 3RR
A retrospective application for a detached garage and a clad storage container used as a garden room was granted, one example of Gloucester's varied planning casework.
See this property's full record115 The Wheatridge East, Upton St Leonards GL4 5DW
A detached garage was converted, with a first-floor addition, into living space for an aged relative, and the council granted it.
See this property's full record70 Beechcroft Road, Longlevens GL2 9HF
A plan to remove an existing garage and build a new garage and workshop was turned down, one of the roughly 1 in 7 applications Gloucester refuses.
See this property's full record3 Cowley Road, Tuffley GL4 0HT
A two-storey side and single-storey rear extension with a rear dormer loft conversion and front canopy was refused.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Gloucester?
UK Property Looker turns the UK's public property data into clear, free insight: sale history, energy ratings, planning activity and more for every address in England and Wales.