Stockton-on-Tees refuses just 1 in 23 applications. Garage conversions filed at twice the national rate.
Stockton-on-Tees submitted 1,361 planning applications to the council in 2025. Of the 1,263 decided across the 2024 to 2025 period, 95.6% were approved, well above the national rate of 87.6%. Only 4.4% were refused, against 12.4% nationally, about 1 in 23. The town's two defining outliers: garage conversions at 2.1 times the national share, and retrospective applications at 1.7 times, the hallmark of a place where owners build first and ask later.
The year in one line
Stockton-on-Tees council approves 95.6% of applications and refuses just 1 in 23, while garage conversions run at 2.1 times the national share and retrospective filings at 1.7 times, the signature of a town where permission is rarely the obstacle.
What Stockton-on-Tees Is Building
Extensions lead, with garage conversions and retrospective work standing apart.
Home extensions were the most common project type submitted to Stockton-on-Tees council, at 24.2% of all applications, a little below the national norm of 29.1%. The category that sets the town apart is garage conversions: 5.1% of applications against 2.4% nationally, 2.1 times the national share. Demolition is also prominent at 10.3%, and retrospective filings reach 6.2% against 3.7% nationally. This is the profile of a town reworking ground-floor space and clearing existing structures, where consent is rarely refused.
Applications submitted to Stockton-on-Tees council in 2025, by project type (2024-2025 pooled counts).
The standout categories
Garage conversions make up 5.1% of applications, 2.1 times the national share, and retrospective filings reach 6.2%, 1.7 times the national rate. Both point to a town where owners adapt existing homes and ground-floor space with confidence.
The council verdict
A near-certain yes.
The council approved 95.6% of the applications it decided and refused just 4.4%, well clear of the national refusal rate of 12.4%. That is about 1 in 23 refused, against 1 in 8 nationally. For anyone bringing a straightforward project, permission is highly likely.
About 1 in 23 Stockton-on-Tees applications was turned down.
applications were refused, a 4.4% refusal rate against a national figure of 12.4%. Permission is easier to win in Stockton-on-Tees than in most of the country.
Stockton-on-Tees vs The National Norm
Easy permission, garage conversions twice the norm, and a habit of building first.
Set the town's application mix against the national average and two categories stand out. Garage conversions run at 2.1 times the national share and retrospective applications at 1.7 times. Home extensions come in below the national share at 24.2% versus 29.1%. Dormers are notably rare at under a third of the national rate. Owners here adapt at ground level rather than upward, and a significant minority do the work before filing.
Stockton-on-Tees files garage conversions at twice the national rate, the largest single divergence in its application mix from the national norm.
Each bar is Stockton-on-Tees's share of applications submitted in 2025; the marker is the national share. Garage conversions are the town's defining outlier.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices rose alongside the building work.
Permission may be easy to win here, but values are climbing too: the average Stockton-on-Tees home is worth more than it was a year ago.
Stockton-on-Tees's planning data tells a clear story. The council approved 95.6% of what it decided in 2025 and refused just 1 in 23, well below the national rate. Garage conversions run at twice the national share and retrospective filings at 1.7 times, two clear signals that owners here adapt their homes with confidence and are not especially deterred by the planning process.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Stockton-on-Tees council 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, across applications decided in the 2024-2025 period. 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 Stockton-on-Tees 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 in the Stockton-on-Tees area, from the garage conversions that set the town apart to extensions, demolitions and retrospective filings. Open any one to see its full record.
16 Greensforge Drive, Ingleby Barwick TS17 5LZ
A garage was converted to living space, the ground-floor change that Stockton-on-Tees files at twice the national rate.
See this property's full record16 Nuffield Way, Eaglescliffe TS16 0FB
An integral garage was turned into a habitable room, the kind of conversion that makes up 5.1% of all applications here against 2.4% nationally.
See this property's full record1 Floret Way, Ingleby Barwick TS17 0GB
Two outbuildings and rear-garden decking were approved after the fact, a retrospective filing of the sort the town submits at 1.7 times the national rate.
See this property's full record61 Roseberry Road TS20 1JZ
A single-storey rear and side extension was granted, alongside demolition of an existing garage and conservatory, combining the town's two most common project types.
See this property's full record3 Bradbury Road TS20 1LD
A single-storey side extension was approved in place of an existing conservatory, the kind of extension that tops the town's application mix at 24.2%.
See this property's full record73 Darlington Road TS18 5EU
Permission was given for a part two-storey, part single-storey side and rear extension, one of the larger home projects submitted in the area.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Stockton-on-Tees?
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.