Milton Keynes files garage conversions at 2.5 times the national rate. The standout feature of its 2025 planning record.
Milton Keynes submitted 2,179 planning applications to the council in 2025. Of those decided, 86.0% were approved and 14.0% refused, a refusal rate of about 1 in 7 and slightly above the national 12.5%. The town's defining characteristic is its application mix: garage conversions make up 6.2% of all applications, against just 2.4% nationally, and loft conversions run at 1.7 times the national share.
The year in one line
Milton Keynes submitted 2,179 applications in 2025, refused about 1 in 7, and processed garage conversions at 2.5 times the national share, making them the town's defining planning outlier.
What Milton Keynes Is Building
Extensions dominate, conversions set the town apart.
Home extensions were by far the most common application type submitted to Milton Keynes council in 2025, at 31.0% of the total, just above the 29.1% national share. The categories that distinguish Milton Keynes are conversions: garage conversions made up 6.2% of applications, 2.5 times the national rate, and loft conversions 4.3%, 1.7 times the norm. This is the application mix of a town of family housing where owners convert existing space rather than build from scratch.
Applications submitted to Milton Keynes council in 2025, by project type. Counts are from the 2024-2025 pooled window used for category analysis.
The conversion effect
Milton Keynes processes garage conversions at 2.5 times the national rate and loft conversions at 1.7 times. Owners are adapting the space they already have.
The council verdict
A refusal rate above the national norm.
The council approved 86.0% of the applications it decided and refused 14.0%, above the 12.5% national average, about 1 in 7. The town also sees a slightly elevated share of retrospective applications, work submitted after it was carried out, at 4.2% against a national 3.7%.
About 1 in 7 Milton Keynes applications was turned down.
of applications were refused, against a 12.5% national rate. About 1 in 7 applications submitted to Milton Keynes council does not get permission.
Milton Keynes vs The National Norm
A town of conversions and extensions.
Set Milton Keynes against the national average and one category stands out above all others. Garage conversions run at 2.5 times the national share, the town's single biggest divergence. Loft conversions also sit above the norm at 1.7 times, and listed-building works at 1.5 times. Home extensions make up 31.0% of applications, just above the 29.1% national figure. Dormers are the one category slightly below the national share.
Milton Keynes processes garage conversions at 2.5 times the national rate, its single biggest divergence from the national application mix.
Each bar is Milton Keynes's share of applications submitted to the council; the marker is the national share. Garage conversions are the town's defining outlier.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices held up alongside the building work.
Permission may be harder to win here, but prices have not softened: the average Milton Keynes home sold for more than the year before.
Milton Keynes has a clear planning signature. It is a town of family housing where owners convert space they already have, garages and lofts above all, rather than build from scratch. Garage conversions run at 2.5 times the national rate here. The council also refuses slightly more than the national norm, about 1 in 7 applications, so for anyone planning work in Milton Keynes, a refusal is a real possibility to plan around.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Milton Keynes council in 2025, classified from each application's published description. Category shares use the 2024-2025 pooled window for stability. Approval rate is of applications that have a decision.
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 Milton Keynes 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 Milton Keynes, from the garage and loft conversions that set the town apart to extensions and refusals. Open any one to see its full record.
14 Yalts Brow, Emerson Valley MK4 2JD
An existing garage converted into an annexe with a mezzanine level, the kind of garage conversion Milton Keynes files at 2.5 times the national rate. The council granted it.
See this property's full record1 Sandwell Court, Two Mile Ash MK8 8AQ
A garage converted into a home office, the town's defining project type, confirmed lawful by the council.
See this property's full record59 Porthcawl Green, Tattenhoe MK4 3AL
A loft conversion with a rear dormer and front rooflights confirmed lawful, one of the loft conversions that run at 1.7 times the national share in Milton Keynes.
See this property's full record4 Kings Close, Wavendon MK17 8RP
A single storey side extension with a relocated kitchen and new utility area, the most common project type in the town, was approved.
See this property's full record19 Squires Close, Coffee Hall MK6 5HE
A two storey side and part rear extension with a front porch was turned down, one of the roughly 1 in 7 applications the council refused.
See this property's full record17 Buckby, Tinkers Bridge MK6 3DP
A loft conversion with a rear dormer and a single storey rear extension was refused, against the usual run of approvals the conversion categories attract.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Milton Keynes?
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.