Leicester refuses 1 in 6 planning applications, tougher than the national average. And 1 in 16 builds first, then asks.
Leicester City Council received 1,705 planning applications in 2025. Of applications decided across 2024 and 2025, the council refused 17.2%, compared with a national rate of 12.4%. That is roughly 1 in 6, against a national norm closer to 1 in 8. At the same time, 6.3% of applications were filed retrospectively, after the work was already done, 1.7 times the national rate. Extensions dominate the mix at 40.3% of all applications, and change of use to residential runs at 2.2 times the national share.
The year in one line
Leicester's refusal rate of 17.2% is above the national 12.4%, change of use to residential runs at 2.2 times the national share, and 1 in 16 applications is filed retrospectively after the work is done.
What Leicester Is Building
Extensions lead the mix, with a strong thread of change of use and retrospective work.
Home extensions were the most common project type submitted to Leicester City Council in 2025, at 40.3% of all applications, against a national average of 29.1%. Demolition was next at 8.9%, then dormers at 7.7% and retrospective filings at 6.3%. Change of use to residential accounted for 4.7% of applications, more than double the national share of 2.2%. This is the application mix of a city where adapting existing buildings, adding space or converting properties, drives the planning workload.
Applications submitted to Leicester City Council in 2025, by project type.
The conversion effect
Change of use to residential runs at 2.2 times the national rate in Leicester, and HMO conversions at 1.9 times. The city's planning mix reflects a dense, urban area where buildings regularly change hands and purpose.
The council verdict
A tougher council than most.
The council approved 82.8% of decided applications and refused 17.2%, about 1 in 6. The national approval rate is 87.6% and the national refusal rate is 12.4%. Leicester's refusal rate is nearly 5 percentage points above the national norm, a meaningful gap that makes this a harder place to get permission than most English councils.
About 1 in 6 Leicester applications is turned down.
approved by Leicester council, against a national rate of 87.6%. About 1 in 6 applications is refused, compared with the national 1 in 8.
Leicester vs The National Norm
A tougher verdict, a different mix.
Set Leicester's application mix against the national average and several categories stand apart. Change of use to residential runs at 2.2 times the national share, conservation-area works at 2.1 times, and retrospective filings at 1.7 times. Extensions account for 40.3% of applications, against a national 29.1%. Across all of these, the council's 17.2% refusal rate is materially above the national 12.4%.
Leicester submits change of use to residential applications at 2.2 times the national rate, and conservation-area works at 2.1 times, reflecting a city where the existing building stock is continuously being repurposed.
Each bar is Leicester's share of applications submitted in 2025; the marker is the national share. Change of use to residential is the city's sharpest divergence from the norm.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices rose alongside the building activity.
While owners extended and converted the homes they already had, values kept climbing across the Leicester area over the latest full year.
Leicester's planning record shows a council that says no more often than most, at 17.2% compared with a national rate of 12.4%. The retrospective share, at 6.3%, is 1.7 times the national figure. And this is a city where buildings change use at twice the national rate. For buyers and owners, that combination of a tougher council, a dense conversion market and a meaningful retrospective tail is what the data shows.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Leicester City Council in 2025, classified from each application's published description. Decision rates are computed over applications decided across 2024 and 2025. 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. 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 Leicester 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 decided in Leicester in the latest full year, from the home extensions that lead the workload to a retrospective filing, a change of use, and a refusal. Open any one to see its full record.
205 Thurncourt Road LE5 2NL
A two-storey side extension was approved with conditions, one of the 1,408 home extensions that made up 40.3% of all applications submitted to Leicester in 2025.
See this property's full record13 May Close, Great Glen LE8 9HJ
A single-storey rear extension with a garage conversion and alterations was granted, combining two common ways of adding space in the Leicester area.
See this property's full record49 Shanklin Drive LE2 3QE
A lawful development certificate was granted for a rear dormer, one of 270 dormer applications submitted to Leicester City Council in 2025.
See this property's full recordPeartree Cottage Main Street, Hungarton LE7 9JR
A timber garden room already partly built was approved retrospectively, one of the 219 retrospective applications, 1.7 times the national share.
See this property's full record60 Stretton Road LE3 6BJ
A certificate confirming existing use as a house in multiple occupation was granted, part of an HMO conversion rate 1.9 times the national share.
See this property's full record26 Bodnant Avenue LE5 5RA
A lawful development certificate for a single-storey rear extension was refused, one of the roughly 1 in 6 applications the council turned down, above the national 1 in 8.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Leicester?
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.