Rugby builds first and asks later at 1.6 times the national rate, while refusing only 1 in 19 applications.
Rugby council received 1,022 planning applications in 2025 and, across 1,864 decided applications in the 2024-2025 window, approved 94.8% of them, well above the national rate of 87.6%. Only 5.2% were refused, about 1 in 19, against a national average closer to 1 in 8. Two categories stand out clearly above national norms: HMO conversions run at 2.4 times the national share, and retrospective applications, lodged after the work was already done, run at 1.6 times the national rate.
The year in one line
Rugby approves far more readily than the national average, refusing only 1 in 19 applications, and files retrospective applications at 1.6 times the national rate, with HMO conversions running at 2.4 times the national share.
What Rugby Is Building
Extensions lead, with HMO conversions and retrospective work standing out.
Home extensions were the most common project type in Rugby, at 27.9% of all applications submitted to Rugby council, close to the national share of 29.1%. After that the mix has two clear outliers: HMO conversions at 3.0% run at 2.4 times the national share of 1.2%, and retrospective applications at 6.0% run at 1.6 times the national rate of 3.7%. Change of use to residential also runs above national norms at 1.7 times the national share.
Applications submitted to Rugby council in 2025 (pooled 2024-2025 counts), by project type.
Built first, asked later
Rugby files retrospective applications at 1.6 times the national rate, 6.0% of all applications against 3.7% nationally. These are projects already carried out, with permission sought after the fact.
The council verdict
A very easy yes.
Rugby council approved 94.8% of the applications it decided and refused only 5.2%, well clear of the national refusal rate of 12.4%. About 1 in 19 applications was turned down, against a national average closer to 1 in 8. Getting permission in Rugby is more likely than almost anywhere in the country.
About 1 in 19 Rugby applications was turned down.
of applications approved, against a national rate of 87.6%. Only 5.2% were refused, roughly 1 in 19, where the national figure is closer to 1 in 8.
Rugby vs The National Norm
An easy yes, a habit of building first, and a high HMO rate.
Set Rugby's data against the national average and three things stand out. The council refuses only 5.2% of applications, against the national rate of 12.4%. Retrospective applications run at 6.0%, against 3.7% nationally, 1.6 times the norm. And HMO conversions, at 3.0% of all applications, run at 2.4 times the national share of 1.2%, the strongest category difference in Rugby's data.
Rugby refuses only 1 in 19 applications it decides, against roughly 1 in 8 nationally. On these numbers, it is one of the easiest places in the country to get planning permission.
Each bar is Rugby's share of applications submitted to Rugby council; the marker is the national share. All three categories above run well ahead of the national norm.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices rose alongside the building work.
Permission is unusually easy to win here, and the market has been moving with it: prices climbed over the latest year.
Rugby's planning record has three clear features. The council says yes far more often than the national average, refusing barely 1 in 19 applications. Work is built first and permission sought afterwards at 1.6 times the national rate. And HMO conversions, at 2.4 times the national share, point to strong demand for shared housing. For anyone planning a project here, the odds of approval are unusually good.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Rugby council in 2025, classified from each application's published description. Shares and rates are computed over the pooled 2024-2025 window for stability.
Decision Rates
Approval rate is approvals as a share of approvals plus refusals, across all 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 Rugby 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 Rugby council, from the home extensions that dominate the workload to retrospective filings, HMO records and refusals. Open any one to see its full record.
33 Rainsbrook Avenue CV22 5HB
A two-storey side extension with single-storey front and rear additions was approved, the home-extension work that leads Rugby's planning list.
See this property's full record32 Longrood Road CV22 7RE
Permission was granted for a single-storey rear extension and a set of dormers, after demolition of older rear structures.
See this property's full record51 Hillmorton Road CV22 5AE
A part-retrospective application to replace an outbuilding and alter a boundary wall was approved, the build-first-ask-later pattern Rugby files at 1.6 times the national rate.
See this property's full record39 Murray Road CV21 3JN
A certificate of lawfulness confirmed an existing house in multiple occupation, formalising a shared-rental property already in use, part of Rugby's above-average HMO activity.
See this property's full record34 Kimberley Road CV21 2SU
A plan to split a single house into two flats was turned down, one of the roughly 1 in 19 applications the council refused.
See this property's full recordYork House Burnthurst Lane, Princethorpe CV23 9QA
A side and rear extension with a first-floor addition was refused, an unusual no for the project type Rugby approves most readily.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Rugby?
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