High Wycombe refuses 1 in 6 planning applications. Loft conversions run at three times the national rate.
Buckinghamshire Council received 1,530 planning applications in the High Wycombe area in 2025. Of the 2,539 decided across 2024 and 2025, 83.0% were approved and 17.0% refused, against a national refusal rate of 12.4%. That gap puts this among the harder places in England to win permission. The application mix is driven by home improvement: loft conversions are filed at 3.0 times the national rate and garage conversions at 2.2 times.
The year in one line
Buckinghamshire Council refuses about 1 in 6 High Wycombe applications, well above the national norm, and the town's consent-needing work is dominated by loft conversions, dormers and garage projects at well above the national rate.
What High Wycombe Is Building
Extensions lead, with loft and roof projects well above the national rate.
Home extensions were the most common application by a wide margin, at 39.0% of all submissions, against a national share of 29.1%. Roof projects stand out sharply: loft conversions made up 7.6% of applications (three times the national rate) and dormers 10.1%. Garage conversions added a further 5.4%, more than double the national rate. This is the application mix of a town where consent-needing work is owners adapting and enlarging the homes they already have.
Applications submitted to Buckinghamshire Council in the High Wycombe area, 2024-2025 pooled, by project type.
Where the town runs hot
Loft conversions are filed at 3.0 times the national rate, garage conversions at 2.2 times and outbuildings at 1.9 times. The shape of consent-needing work here is converting and extending existing houses across the roof and the garage.
The council verdict
A harder yes.
Buckinghamshire Council approved 83.0% of the applications it decided in the High Wycombe area and refused 17.0%, well above the 12.4% national refusal rate. That puts the odds of a refusal here at about 1 in 6, against roughly 1 in 8 nationally.
About 1 in 6 High Wycombe applications was turned down.
of decided applications were refused, against a 12.4% national rate. High Wycombe approves about 5 in 6, where the typical council approves nearer 7 in 8.
High Wycombe vs The National Norm
A town that extends, converts and adds above the national rate.
Set High Wycombe's mix against the national average and the pattern is clear: this town files a far higher share of home improvement work than the country as a whole. Loft conversions run at 3.0 times the national rate. Home extensions alone account for 39.0% of all applications here, against 29.1% nationally. No robust category sits notably below the national norm.
High Wycombe files loft conversions at 3.0 times the national rate, its biggest single divergence from the national mix, with garage conversions at 2.2 times and outbuildings at 1.9 times.
Each bar is High Wycombe's share of applications; the marker is the national share. Loft conversions are the town's sharpest divergence from the norm.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices climbed alongside the building work.
Permission may be harder to win here, but prices have not waited: the typical High Wycombe home moved up strongly over the year.
High Wycombe's planning data tells a clear story. This is a town where owners are converting and enlarging the homes they already have, and where Buckinghamshire Council says no more often than most: about 1 in 6 applications is refused, against roughly 1 in 8 nationally. For anyone buying here with a loft or garage project in mind, both the refusal rate and the town's own track record are worth examining closely.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Buckinghamshire Council in the High Wycombe area in 2025 (volume) and 2024-2025 pooled (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, over applications decided in 2024-2025. 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 High Wycombe 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 in High Wycombe, from loft conversions and garage projects filed at well above the national rate to a run of refusals. Open any one to see its full record.
207 Desborough Avenue HP11 2TW
A single-storey rear infill extension and first-floor side extension, with an old outbuilding demolished, was approved, the most common kind of project in the town.
See this property's full recordOld Orchard Cottage Cock Lane, Penn HP10 8DS
A loft conversion adding habitable space with front, side and rear rooflights was granted, typical of the roof work High Wycombe files at three times the national rate.
See this property's full record37 Selwood Way, Downley HP13 5XR
A garage extension and conversion under a new pitched roof was approved, one of the garage projects the town submits at over double the national rate.
See this property's full record13 Wheeler Avenue, Penn HP10 8EN
A scheme combining front, first-floor and rear extensions with a porch and new flank windows was turned down, one of the roughly 1 in 6 applications the council refused.
See this property's full record16 Mead Platt, Stokenchurch HP14 3PZ
A householder application for a garden office built in the front garden was refused.
See this property's full record108 Whitelands Road HP12 3EL
A plan to dig out the front garden for a retaining wall and parking area with a dropped kerb was turned down.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in High Wycombe?
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