Keighley turns buildings into homes at 1.9 times the national rate.
Bradford Council received 750 planning applications in the Keighley area in 2025. Of the 1,347 applications decided across 2024 and 2025, 85.2% were approved, a touch below the national rate of 87.6%. What sets the town apart is conversion: 4.2% of all applications submitted to Bradford Council were changes of use to residential, against a national share of 2.2%. The council refuses about 1 in 7 applications. It is the planning signature of a former mill town reworking older buildings into housing.
The year in one line
Bradford Council approved 85.2% of decided Keighley applications and refused about 1 in 7, but the town stands out for change of use to residential at 1.9 times the national share, the mark of a former mill town converting older stock into homes.
What Keighley Is Building
Extensions lead, but conversions set the town apart.
Home extensions were the most common project, at 26.4% of all applications submitted to Bradford Council in the Keighley area, close to the national norm. The category that sets Keighley apart is change of use to residential: 4.2% of applications, against a national share of 2.2%. This is the application mix of a former mill town where older buildings are being reworked into homes.
Applications submitted to Bradford Council in the Keighley area, 2024-2025 pooled, by project type.
The conversion effect
Keighley files change-of-use-to-residential applications at 1.9 times the national rate. In a town with a large stock of older commercial and industrial buildings, turning them into housing needs formal consent.
The council verdict
A slightly higher refusal rate than the national norm.
Bradford Council approved 85.2% of the Keighley applications it decided and refused 14.8%, both computed over the 1,347 decisions across 2024 and 2025. The national approval rate is 87.6%, so Keighley sits a little below average. About 1 in 7 applications is turned down.
About 1 in 7 Keighley applications was turned down.
of decided applications were refused, against a national rate of 12.4%. About 1 in 7 Keighley applications is turned down. The approval rate of 85.2% sits a little below the national figure.
Keighley vs The National Norm
A town reworking its older stock.
Set Keighley's application mix against the national average and the conversion effect stands out. Change of use to residential features in 4.2% of applications here, 1.9 times the national share of 2.2%. Demolition is also notable in the other direction: it accounts for 6.0% of Keighley applications against 9.1% nationally. The categories Keighley does less of are telling too: loft conversions appear in just 0.4% of applications, against 2.6% nationally, and listed-building works are similarly rare.
Keighley files change-of-use-to-residential applications at 1.9 times the national rate. In a town with a large stock of older buildings, converting them into housing needs formal consent.
Each bar is Keighley's share of applications; the marker is the national share. Change of use to residential is the town's defining divergence.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices moved alongside the building work.
The average Keighley home sold for well below the national figure, but values climbed strongly over the year as older buildings found new use as housing.
Keighley's planning data tells a clear story. Bradford Council approves applications at a slightly lower rate than the national average and refuses about 1 in 7, but the real story is conversion: the town files change-of-use-to-residential applications at 1.9 times the national rate. For anyone buying in Keighley, the conversion of older buildings into homes is the route that defines the local market, and consent is the step to plan around.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Bradford Council in the Keighley area in 2025 (750 applications), with decision rates and category shares computed over the pooled 2024-2025 window (1,347 decided) for stability. Categories are 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 Keighley 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 Bradford Council in the Keighley area, from changes of use to residential to extensions and a pair of refusals. Open any one to see its full record.
135 Skipton Road BD21 3BG
A former office converted into a house in multiple occupation, one of the change-of-use applications Keighley files at nearly twice the national rate.
See this property's full record430 Skipton Road BD20 6DT
A plan to turn a four-bed house into a shared rental with a new dormer and rear parking was turned down, one of the roughly 1 in 7 applications refused.
See this property's full record36 Fulton Crescent, Silsden BD20 0FN
Permission was granted to convert an integral garage into habitable living space, a small change of use that adds a room to the home.
See this property's full record2 Chapel Flats Crag Lane, Bradley BD20 9DE
An integral garage was approved for conversion into a studio annex with new windows, granted subject to conditions.
See this property's full record18 Pasture Avenue, Oakworth BD22 7QF
A proposal to convert a garage into a garden room was refused, one of the changes of use the council turned down.
See this property's full record29 Nessfield Drive BD22 6NP
A two-storey rear extension, the most common project type in Keighley, was approved.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Keighley?
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