Sunderland refuses 1 in 8 planning applications, a touch above the national rate.
Sunderland Council received 1,334 planning applications in 2025. Of the 2,055 decided across 2024-2025, it approved 86.7% and refused 13.3%, about 1 in 8. The national refusal rate is 12.4%. The application mix is led by home extensions at 19.2%, but that share is well below the national 29.1%, and no category runs above the national norm. This is a town where the council is a fraction stricter than average, with a project mix that files less of almost everything than England does.
The year in one line
Sunderland's refusal rate of 13.3% nudges above the national 12.4%, its application mix runs below the national share on every major category, and home extensions dominate at 19.2% against a 29.1% national share.
What Sunderland Is Building
Extensions lead a mix that runs below the national rate across the board.
Home extensions were the most common application type submitted to Sunderland Council in 2025, at 19.2% of all applications. That is well below the national share of 29.1%. Retrospective applications followed at 3.6% and demolition at 3.3%, both also below their national shares. No single category reaches above the national norm, and the overall picture is of a town that submits fewer planning applications per head and less of every project type than England as a whole.
Applications submitted to Sunderland Council in 2025, by project type. Figures drawn from 2024-2025 pooled data.
No outlier category
Sunderland files no project type at or above the national rate. Home extensions lead at 19.2% against a 29.1% national share. The stands-out test requires at least 30 applications and a share 1.5 times the national rate; nothing clears it.
The council verdict
A fractionally stricter council.
Of the 2,055 applications decided across 2024-2025, 1,781 were approved (86.7%) and 274 refused (13.3%), about 1 in 8. The national approval rate is 87.6% and the refusal rate 12.4%. Sunderland sits a touch below the national approval rate and a touch above the national refusal rate.
About 1 in 8 Sunderland applications was turned down.
of decided applications refused, against a national rate of 12.4%. Sunderland approves 86.7%, a shade below the 87.6% national norm.
Sunderland vs The National Norm
A town that builds less of everything than the national picture.
Set Sunderland's application mix against the national average and every major category falls short. Home extensions run at 19.2% against a 29.1% national share. Demolition is 3.3% against 9.1% nationally. Dormers 2.2% against 6.0%. Even garage conversions and retrospective applications sit below their national shares. The town submits fewer of every project type than the national norm.
Demolition applications are the widest gap: 3.3% in Sunderland against 9.1% nationally, 2.8 times below the national share. Extensions follow at 1.5 times below. No category exceeds its national share.
Each bar is Sunderland's share of applications; the marker is the national share. Every category sits at or below the national rate.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices rose alongside the building work.
Permission is granted at close to the national rate here, and prices have moved with the building work rather than against it.
Sunderland's planning data tells a consistent story. The council is a fraction stricter than the national average, refusing about 1 in 8 compared with 1 in 8.1 nationally. More striking is the application mix: the town submits less of every major project type than England does. Home extensions lead at 19.2% of submissions, but the national share is 29.1%. For owners planning work here, the odds of approval are good, though slightly lower than in most of the country.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to Sunderland Council in 2025. Decision rates and category shares are computed over the pooled 2024-2025 window for stability. 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 the 2,055 decided applications in 2024-2025. 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 Sunderland 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 Sunderland Council, from the home extensions the town files most to retrospective filings and a couple of refusals. Open any one to see its full record.
127 Mount Road SR4 7QB
A single storey side extension was approved, one of the 537 home extensions submitted in the period.
See this property's full record64 Carlton Crescent SR3 3PH
A two storey side and single storey rear extension with a front porch and widened driveway was granted.
See this property's full record20 Crosslea Avenue SR3 1LT
A rear dormer, side porch and new boundary wall were approved after the work had already been done, one of 100 retrospective filings in the period.
See this property's full record20 Irene Avenue SR2 9SZ
A two storey side and single storey rear extension was turned down, one of the 274 applications refused across the period.
See this property's full record1 Rothbury SR2 0BE
A change of use from a family home to a children's home was refused.
See this property's full record5 South View SR6 9JS
A side garage conversion was approved after the plans were amended, part of the 43 garage conversions submitted in the period.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in Sunderland?
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