Liverpool refuses 1 in 6 planning applications. And HMO conversions run at eight times the national rate.
Liverpool City Council received 2,655 planning applications submitted in 2025 and, of those decided across 2024 to 2025, refused 16.9%, well above the national refusal rate of 12.4%. About 1 in 6 applications is turned down. The application mix is equally distinctive: HMO conversions make up 9.9% of all applications submitted to Liverpool, against just 1.2% nationally, a difference of eight to one.
The year in one line
Liverpool submitted 2,655 planning applications in 2025, refuses 1 in 6 of those it decides, above the national norm, and sees HMO conversions at eight times the national share, the defining signature of a city with high rental demand.
What Liverpool Is Building
Extensions lead, HMO conversions set the city apart.
Home extensions were the most common project type submitted to Liverpool City Council, at 24.7% of all applications, below the national norm of 29.1%. The figure that distinguishes Liverpool is HMO conversions: 9.9% of applications, against just 1.2% nationally. Conservation-area works made up a further 4.1%, more than twice the national share. This is the application mix of a city with high tenant demand reshaping its housing stock.
Applications submitted to Liverpool City Council in 2025 (2024-2025 pooled for category shares), by project type.
The HMO effect
Liverpool sees HMO conversion applications at 8.1 times the national rate, 9.9% of all applications against 1.2% nationally. Conservation-area works also run at more than twice the national share. Together they mark a city converting its housing stock under close heritage scrutiny.
The council verdict
A tougher council than most.
Liverpool City Council approved 83.1% of the applications it decided and refused 16.9%, a refusal rate above the national average of 12.4%. About 1 in 6 applications is turned down. The council's approval rate sits below the national norm of 87.6%.
About 1 in 6 Liverpool applications was turned down.
applications refused, against about 1 in 8 nationally. Liverpool's 83.1% approval rate sits below the national norm of 87.6%.
Liverpool vs The National Norm
HMO conversions at eight times the national rate, by the numbers.
Set Liverpool's application mix against the national average and the rental-demand pattern stands out clearly. HMO conversions make up 9.9% of all applications submitted to Liverpool City Council, against 1.2% nationally. Conservation-area works run at more than twice the national share. Home extensions are below average at 24.7% against 29.1%. The clearest category Liverpool does less of is outbuildings, at 1.3% against a national 3.2%.
Liverpool sees HMO conversion applications at eight times the national rate, 9.9% of all applications against 1.2% nationally, the signature of a city with concentrated rental demand.
Each bar is Liverpool's share of applications; the marker is the national share. HMO conversions are the city's defining outlier.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices moved alongside the building activity.
Liverpool remains one of the more affordable major cities to own a home, even as the conversion and redevelopment work continues across the Liverpool City Council area.
Liverpool's planning data tells a clear story about rental demand. HMO conversions run at eight times the national rate, and the council refuses 1 in 6 applications, above the national norm. Conservation-area works are also twice the national share. For anyone buying here, planning permission is not a formality.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Liverpool City Council in 2025 (volume) and across 2024 to 2025 (category shares and decision rates), 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, computed over all decided applications in the 2024 to 2025 window. 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 Liverpool 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 Liverpool City Council, from HMO conversions and conservation-area works to extensions and refusals. Open any one to see its full record.
150 Pilling Lane L31 4HQ
An HMO conversion application that was withdrawn before a decision, one of the hundreds of such cases submitted to Liverpool City Council each year.
See this property's full record2 Hall Road East L23 8TS
Amendments to an earlier approval were turned down, one of the roughly 1 in 6 applications the council refused.
See this property's full record25 Tavington Road, Halewood L26 6BA
A single-storey side extension was approved, one of the 861 home extension applications that make up the largest share of the Liverpool mix.
See this property's full record19 Swanside Avenue L14 7NP
A single-storey side and rear extension with a new front porch, the most common project type in Liverpool, was granted.
See this property's full record21 Wynnstay Avenue L31 0BG
A loft conversion with a rear dormer was confirmed lawful, one of the dormer projects among Liverpool's application mix.
See this property's full record13 Elwyn Drive L26 0UU
Permission was granted for a single outbuilding in a rear garden, one of the less common project types in Liverpool, which sees far fewer outbuilding applications than the national norm.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Liverpool?
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