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Loft Conversion Approval Rates in Cardiff

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 Cardiff.

164 real decisions·January 2020 to present·Updated March 2026
70.1%
Approval Rate
164
Decisions
115
Approved
49
Refused
70.1% approved. But 49 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.

Loft Conversion approval rate by ward

#WardDecisionsApprovedRate
1RHIWBINA55
100.0%
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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 Cardiff.

TypeDecisionsRate
Dormer168
92.3%
Hip-to-Gable Conversion48
91.7%
Flat Conversion22
90.9%
Annex23
78.3%
Outbuilding62
77.4%
Loft Conversion164
70.1%
Garage / Parking249
67.1%
Extension (General)271
66.8%
Rear Extension265
63.0%
Side Extension108
59.3%
Change of Use (Residential)69
55.1%
Conservatory172
48.8%
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What the data tells us

1
70.1% of loft conversion applications in Cardiff get approved. That means 49 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

49 loft conversion applications in Cardiff 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 Cardiff planning data

Methodology: Based on 164 planning decisions classified as loft conversions in Cardiff, 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 Cardiff Council's public planning portal. Full methodology →
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