1 in 8 York applications involves conservation-area consent. That is six times the national rate.
York's Local Planning Authority received 2,654 planning applications in 2025 and approved 87.9% of the 2,919 decided across the two-year period, in line with the national average of 87.6%. What sets the city apart is heritage control: 11.4% of all applications involved conservation-area consent, against a national average of 1.9%. HMO conversions ran at 3.3 times the national rate. It is the planning signature of a walled, historic city where what you can do to a building is tightly governed.
The year in one line
York approves planning work at the national rate, but files conservation-area applications at six times the national rate and HMO conversions at three times, the mark of a tightly governed historic city.
What York Is Building
Extensions lead, but conservation rules define the city.
Home extensions were the most common project type submitted to York in 2025, at 24.8% of all applications, somewhat below the national norm of 29.1%. The figure that defines York is conservation-area work: 11.4% of applications, against a national average of just 1.9%. HMO conversions made up 4.0%, more than three times the national rate. This is the application mix of a historic, student-heavy city where what you can do to a building is closely controlled.
Applications submitted to York in 2025, by project type (2024-2025 pooled counts).
The conservation effect
York files conservation-area applications at 6.0 times the national rate and HMO conversions at 3.3 times. In a walled medieval city, even modest exterior changes can need formal consent.
The council verdict
A standard yes.
The council approved 87.9% of the applications it decided and refused 12.1%, both broadly in line with the national average of 87.6% approved and 12.4% refused. That is about 1 in 8 applications turned down. Refusals cluster on awkward additions, such as rear dormers and two-storey side extensions.
About 1 in 8 York applications was turned down, matching the national norm.
York applications was refused, matching the national refusal rate of 12.4%. The council approved 87.9% across the 2,919 applications decided in 2024-2025.
York vs The National Norm
A heritage city, by the numbers.
Set York's application mix against the national average and the heritage effect is unmistakable. Conservation-area consent features in more than 1 in 9 applications here, six times the national share, and HMO conversions run at more than three times the norm. The categories York does less of are telling too: demolition applications come in at less than half the national share, and the retrospective rate is roughly half the national figure, suggesting owners here largely seek consent before building rather than after.
York files conservation-area applications at six times the national rate. In a walled medieval city, even modest exterior changes can need formal consent.
Each bar is York's share of applications submitted to York in 2025; the marker is the national share. Conservation-area work is the city's defining outlier.
Meanwhile, the market
Prices held up alongside the building work.
Permission may take time to win here, but the market has not waited: York remains one of the stronger places in the north to own a home.
York's planning data tells a clear story. This is a city defined by heritage controls, not by an unusual appetite to build. Owners extend and adapt period homes within tight conservation rules, the council says yes about as often as anywhere else, and the retrospective rate is half the national norm, suggesting most people here do things the right way round. For anyone buying in York, heritage consent is the constraint to plan for.
Where the numbers come from
Planning Data
Applications submitted to York Local Planning Authority in 2025, classified from each application's published description. Shares and rates are computed over the pooled 2024-2025 window for stability; volume is the 2025 figure.
Decision Rates
Approval rate is approvals as a share of approvals plus refusals, across applications decided 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 York 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 within the York area, from an HMO conversion approved on resubmission to a series of refusals on dormers and extensions. Open any one to see its full record.
56 Stuart Road YO24 3AL
A change of use from a single home to a house in multiple occupation was approved, the kind of shared-rental conversion York files at more than three times the national rate.
See this property's full recordBlue Stone Cottage Main Street, Sutton On The Forest YO61 1DP
Listed-building consent was given for re-roofing and chimney repairs to a protected property, the heritage work that defines York's application mix.
See this property's full record89 Barkston Avenue YO26 5BA
A plan to put up a detached side building containing two flats was turned down, one of the roughly 1 in 8 applications the council refused.
See this property's full record13 Eason Road YO24 2HZ
A second-floor and rear extension with a hip-to-gable roof change and rear dormer was refused, the awkward kind of addition where York's refusals cluster.
See this property's full record18 Chatsworth Avenue, Strensall YO32 5PB
A single-storey rear extension and loft conversion with a rear dormer were approved, a typical period-home adaptation.
See this property's full record1 New Cottages, Alne YO61 1UB
Permission was granted to demolish an old rear lean-to and replace it with single-storey rear and side extensions, the most common project type in York.
See this property's full recordCurious about a home in York?
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.