Rochester demolishes at double the national rate and gets planning approved more easily than most towns.
Medway received 789 planning applications in the Rochester area in 2025. Of the 1,312 applications decided across 2024 and 2025, 91.0% were approved, above the national figure of 87.6%. Only 1 in 11 applications was refused, against 1 in 8 nationally. The standout in the mix is demolition: it made up 18.2% of applications against 9.1% nationally, and annexe proposals ran at 2.7 times the national rate.
The year in one line
Rochester is easier to get permission in than most of England, with only 1 in 11 applications refused against 1 in 8 nationally, and the application mix is driven by demolition at double the national share and annexes at 2.7 times the national rate.
What Rochester Is Building
Extensions dominate, but demolition is the defining feature of the mix.
Home extensions were the most common project type submitted to Medway in the Rochester area, at 33.4% of all applications, above the national share of 29.1%. The sharpest divergence is demolition at 18.2% of applications, against 9.1% nationally. Dormers, outbuildings and retrospective applications all run above the national share as well. Rochester also files listed-building works at 1.8 times the national rate, reflecting the town's historic centre.
Planning applications submitted to Medway in the Rochester area, 2024-2025, by project type.
The reshaping effect
Demolition runs at 2.0 times the national share on 285 applications, making it the single strongest divergence. Annexes are filed at 2.7 times the national rate, and listed-building works at 1.8 times. All three clear the threshold of at least 30 applications.
The council verdict
A permissive council: only 1 in 11 refused.
Of the 1,312 applications decided across 2024 and 2025, Medway approved 91.0% and refused 9.0%, about 1 in 11. The national refusal rate is 12.4%, meaning Rochester applicants face a materially lower risk of refusal than the England and Wales average.
About 1 in 11 Rochester applications was turned down.
applications refused within the Medway area, against 1 in 8 nationally. Rochester's 91.0% approval rate sits comfortably above the national 87.6%.
Rochester vs The National Norm
A permissive council with a demolition-heavy building mix.
Set Rochester's application mix against the national average and two things stand out. First, the approval rate: 91.0% against 87.6% nationally, with only 1 in 11 applications refused. Second, the project mix: demolition runs at 18.2% of applications against 9.1% nationally. Listed-building works and annexes also run well above the national share. No robust category sits notably below the national norm.
Rochester files demolition applications at double the national rate, the town's biggest category divergence, on 285 applications across 2024-2025.
Each bar is Rochester's share of applications submitted to Medway; the marker is the national share. Demolition is the town's defining divergence.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices rose alongside the building work.
The reshaping of Rochester's housing stock came as values climbed, with the average home selling for more than a third of a million pounds in the latest full year.
Rochester's planning data points in a clear direction. The Medway council approves a higher share of applications than the national average and refuses only 1 in 11, making it one of the more permissive LPAs in England. The work being filed is equally distinctive: demolition at double the national rate, annexes at 2.7 times, and listed-building works at nearly twice the national share. Rochester is reshaping its existing stock and getting permission to do it without unusual friction.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Medway in the Rochester area in 2025 (volume) and 2024-2025 pooled (rates and shares), 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, over applications that have a decision. 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 Rochester 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 submitted to Medway in the Rochester area, from demolition and listed-building consents to a change of use and a refusal. Open any one to see its full record.
38 Green Lane, Isle Of Grain ME3 0DQ
A single-storey side extension approved after demolition of the garage, one of the 285 demolition applications filed in Rochester at double the national rate.
See this property's full record28 Gerrard Avenue ME1 2RN
A rear extension and loft conversion with rear dormer granted together, combining two project types that run well above the national rate in Rochester.
See this property's full record94 Gravesend Road ME2 3PN
Permission to add front and rear dormers and raise the roof from hip to gable, illustrating Rochester's above-national dormer rate.
See this property's full record60 St Margarets Street ME1 1UJ
Listed-building consent for roof repairs to a protected property, part of Rochester's listed-building caseload that runs at 1.8 times the national rate.
See this property's full recordAtbara Gravesend Road, Higham ME3 7EQ
A certificate sought to confirm a raised patio as lawful was refused, one of the roughly 1 in 11 applications turned down by Medway.
See this property's full record23 Chartwell Close ME2 4RJ
A certificate for a single-storey rear extension was refused, even though extensions are the most common project type filed in the Rochester area.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Rochester?
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