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Loft Conversion Approval Rates in Bury

Loft conversions change your roofline — and that makes them one of the more closely scrutinised application types. Councils scrutinise visibility, overlooking and street character more closely than for ground-level work. Here's what the data shows in Bury.

187 real decisions·January 2020 to present·Updated March 2026
90.9%
Approval Rate
187
Decisions
170
Approved
17
Refused
90.9% approved. But 17 refused since 2020. Each refusal cost the homeowner time and money on drawings and application fees. Understanding your local data before you apply is the difference between confidence and a costly gamble.

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Why loft conversion approval rates matter

Loft conversions face more scrutiny than rear or side extensions because they change the property's profile from the street. Dormers, mansards and hip-to-gable alterations are particularly sensitive.

These are council averages. Your property is specific.

Two houses on the same street can get different outcomes.
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How loft conversions compare to other project types

Not all applications are treated equally. Here's how loft conversions stack up against other common projects in Bury.

TypeDecisionsRate
Hip-to-Gable Conversion43
97.7%
Outbuilding82
96.3%
Front Extension130
96.2%
Conservatory222
95.9%
Side Extension498
95.6%
Wraparound Extension65
95.4%
Garage / Parking490
93.9%
Basement27
92.6%
Extension (General)1,479
92.4%
Loft Conversion187
90.9%
Rear Extension1,150
90.6%
Dormer409
89.5%
New Build105
88.6%
Change of Use (Residential)112
88.4%
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What the data tells us

1
90.9% of loft conversion applications in Bury get approved. That means 17 homeowners since 2020 have been refused. Not terrible odds, but not a foregone conclusion.
3
Council averages are starting points, not guarantees. The decisions that matter most are the comparable ones near your specific property — because planning officers look at precedent, character and the immediate context of your street.

Before you spend £5,000+ on architects and drawings

17 loft conversion applications in Bury have been refused since 2020. Many of those homeowners had already paid for drawings and application fees. A £79 report shows you what gets approved — and what gets refused — near your property.

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More Bury planning data

Methodology: Based on 187 planning decisions classified as loft conversions in Bury, January 2020 to present. Classification uses keyword matching against proposal descriptions (matching generate_site_data.py rules). A single application may appear in multiple categories. Approval rate = approved / (approved + refused). Pending, withdrawn and invalid applications excluded. Data from Bury Council's public planning portal. Full methodology →
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