Norwich refuses just 1 in 29 planning applications. That is less than a third of the national refusal rate.
Norwich Council received 1,177 planning applications in 2025. Of the applications with a decision, 96.5% were approved, well above the 87.6% national average. Only 3.5% were refused, against 12.4% nationally, about 1 in 29. Home extensions lead the mix at 17.0% of all applications. This is the planning profile of a city where consent is comparatively easy to get.
The year in one line
Norwich approved 96.5% of the applications it decided and refused only 3.5%, less than a third of the national refusal rate, the mark of a city where planning permission is comparatively easy to get.
What Norwich Is Building
Extensions lead, demolition and change of use follow.
Home extensions were the most common project submitted to Norwich Council in 2025, at 17.0% of all applications, well below the 29.1% national norm. Demolition work came second at 3.8%, and outbuildings and change of use to residential each featured among the top categories. The application mix of the Norwich area is noticeably lighter on roof and loft projects than the national average.
Applications submitted to Norwich Council in 2025, by project type (counts are 2024-2025 pooled for stability).
The refusal rate
Norwich refuses just 3.5% of decided applications, against 12.4% nationally, about 1 in 29. Owners here have a significantly higher chance of winning consent than the national average suggests.
The council verdict
An easy yes, and a consistent one.
The council approved 96.5% of the applications it decided and refused only 3.5%, both well clear of the national norm of 87.6% approved and 12.4% refused. The refusal rate of 1 in 29 is less than a third of the national figure. Built-first applications are also well below the norm.
About 1 in 29 Norwich applications was turned down.
of applications were refused, against 12.4% nationally. Norwich's approval rate of 96.5% sits well above the 87.6% national norm.
Norwich vs The National Norm
Every major category runs below the national share.
Set Norwich's application mix against the national average and almost every category runs below the national share. Dormers stand out most starkly at 1.5% against 6.0% nationally. Home extensions, at 17.0% against 29.1%, show the biggest absolute gap. The headline story is not any one category but the outcome: a refusal rate of just 3.5%, less than a third of the national figure.
Norwich refuses just 3.5% of applications, less than a third of the 12.4% national rate. Owners here secure consent more often than almost anywhere in England and Wales.
Each bar is Norwich's share of applications; the marker is the national share. Dormers show the sharpest relative gap below the norm.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices rose alongside the building work.
Consent may be easier to win here, but values are still climbing: the average Norwich home gained nearly a tenth of its value over the year.
Norwich's planning data tells a clear story. The council approves 96.5% of applications and refuses only 1 in 29, less than a third of the national refusal rate. Every major category of application runs below the national share, and built-first filings are half the national rate. For anyone planning work here, the odds of a yes are among the best in the country.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Norwich Council in 2025 (volume) and the 2024-2025 pooled window (shares and 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 applications with a decision. 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 Norwich 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 decided in Norwich in the latest full year, from the extensions and conversions the city files most to a handful of refusals. Open any one to see its full record.
62 Blue Boar Lane NR7 8RT
A detached garage was converted into a self-contained annexe, a common project type in Norwich. The council granted it with conditions.
See this property's full record3 Newfound Drive NR4 7RY
A two-storey rear extension with a single-storey addition was approved, the kind of home extension that leads the city's application mix at 17.0% of all applications.
See this property's full record17 Ashtree Road NR5 0LS
An attic was converted with a flat-roof dormer, one of the 35 dormer applications submitted to Norwich Council in the period, a rate well below the national norm.
See this property's full record195b Unthank Road NR2 2PQ
A retrospective bid to regularise short-term holiday let use was turned down, one of the roughly 1 in 29 applications the council refused.
See this property's full record43a Magdalen Street NR3 1LQ
A proposal to convert the property into two residential apartments was refused, a rare outcome in a city that approves 96.5% of what it decides.
See this property's full record37 Town Lane, Aylsham NR11 6HH
A plan to raise the roof and create a first floor with dormers was refused, the loft work Norwich does far less of than the national norm.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Norwich?
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