Hull files conservation-area applications at over six times the national rate. And 1 in 11 applications is refused, against 1 in 8 nationally.
Hull Council received 984 planning applications in 2025 and approved 90.9% of those decided, above the national rate of 87.6%. Permission is easier to get here than nationally: just 1 in 11 applications was refused, against 1 in 8 across England and Wales. What sets the city apart is heritage control, with 11.9% of all applications involving conservation-area consent, against a national average of 1.9%.
The year in one line
Hull Council approves planning applications above the national rate and refuses well below it, but files conservation-area applications at more than six times the national share and HMO conversions at nearly six times, the signature of a city with large protected zones and dense terraced streets.
What Hull Is Building
Extensions lead, but conservation work defines the city.
Home extensions were the most common project, at 21.0% of all applications, well below the national norm of 29.1%. The figure that sets Hull apart is conservation-area work: 11.9% of applications, against a national average of just 1.9%. HMO conversions made up another 6.8%, nearly six times the national rate, and demolition 9.6%. This is the application mix of a city with large protected zones and dense terraced housing.
Applications submitted to Hull Council in 2025, by project type.
The conservation effect
Hull files conservation-area applications at 6.3 times the national rate and HMO conversions at 5.6 times. Across large protected zones, even modest exterior changes can need formal consent.
The council verdict
An easy yes.
The council approved 90.9% of the applications it decided and refused 9.1%, both better for applicants than the national average of 87.6% approved and 12.4% refused. Hull is notably more permissive than the national norm.
About 1 in 11 Hull applications was turned down.
applications refused, against 1 in 8 nationally. Hull's approval rate, at 90.9%, sits above the national norm of 87.6%.
Hull vs The National Norm
A heritage city, by the numbers.
Set Hull's application mix against the national average and the heritage effect is unmistakable. Conservation-area consent features in nearly 1 in 8 applications here, more than six times the national share, and HMO conversions run at nearly six times the norm. Home extensions are notably lower than the national rate. The category Hull does least of relative to the norm is dormers, at less than half the national share.
Hull files conservation-area applications at more than six times the national rate. Across large protected zones, even modest exterior changes can need formal consent.
Each bar is Hull's share of applications; the marker is the national share. Conservation-area work is the city's defining outlier.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices rose alongside the building work.
Permission may be easier to win here, but values are climbing: the average Hull home sold for more in the latest full year than the one before.
Hull's planning data tells a clear story. The council says yes to more than nine in ten applications, well above the national rate, yet heritage control shapes the entire workload. Conservation-area consent features in nearly 1 in 8 applications, more than six times the national rate, and HMO conversions run at nearly six times the norm. For anyone buying here, the conservation rules are the constraint to plan around.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Hull Council in 2025, classified from each application's published description. Shares are computed over the pooled 2024-2025 window for stability.
Decision Rates
Approval rate is approvals as a share of approvals plus refusals, computed over decided applications. 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 Kingston upon Hull 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 to Hull Council, from conservation-area consent and HMO conversions to extensions and a handful of refusals. Open any one to see its full record.
602 Beverley Road HU6 7LH
A certificate to confirm existing use as a seven-bed house in multiple occupation was refused, one of the shared-rental cases Hull files at nearly six times the national rate.
See this property's full record52 Morrill Street HU9 2LJ
Permission was granted to enlarge a six-bed HMO to eight beds and add a rear dormer, the kind of dense rental conversion common in Hull's terraced streets.
See this property's full record92 Laburnum Avenue, Garden Village HU8 8PA
A plan to remove a rear chimney stack and add three rooflights was turned down, one of the roughly 1 in 11 applications the council refused.
See this property's full record9 Western Gailes Way HU8 9EQ
A two-storey rear extension was refused after the council weighed its scale, even as extensions remain the city's most common project.
See this property's full record36 East Ella Drive HU4 6AL
Permission was granted to retain a detached garage already built at the rear, an example of the retrospective filing Hull does above the national rate.
See this property's full record110 Gillshill Road HU8 0JY
A single-storey rear extension, the most common project type in Hull, was approved.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Kingston upon Hull?
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