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Loft Conversion Approval Rates in Cornwall

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 Cornwall.

420 real decisions·January 2020 to present·Updated June 2026
93.6%
Approval Rate
420
Decisions
393
Approved
27
Refused
93.6% approved. But 27 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 Cornwall.

TypeDecisionsRate
Wraparound Extension63
98.4%
Side Extension601
98.2%
Conservatory556
97.7%
Basement110
97.3%
Rear Extension1,113
97.1%
Dormer630
96.3%
Extension (General)3,855
96.1%
Annex760
95.3%
Outbuilding1,354
94.5%
Garage / Parking3,582
93.8%
Loft Conversion420
93.6%
HMO59
93.2%
Front Extension117
93.2%
Flat Conversion57
93.0%
Change of Use (Residential)1,598
92.1%
New Build927
82.7%
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What the data tells us

1
93.6% of loft conversion applications in Cornwall get approved. That means 27 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

27 loft conversion applications in Cornwall have been refused since 2020. Many of those homeowners had already paid for drawings and application fees. A free, property-specific report shows you what gets approved — and what gets refused — near your property.

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More Cornwall planning data

Nearby councils loft conversion data

Methodology: Based on 420 planning decisions classified as loft conversions in Cornwall, 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 Cornwall Council's public planning portal. Full methodology →
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