Planning applications in Conwy

Planning in Conwy

Conwy has become gentler recently. The refusal rate in 2025 was about 1 in 9, compared with about 1 in 6 in the three years before. At the same time the volume of work has fallen: Conwy County Borough Council received 853 applications in 2025, against an average of 982 a year in the three years before, and the busiest year on record was 2005 with 1,576.

Over the longer run, Conwy has decided more than 40,000 planning applications since 1986, and about 1 in 8 was refused, a little more leniently than the about 1 in 7 across the areas we cover.

Garden rooms and outbuildings are the biggest category, with more than 5,000 applications, and about 1 in 9 was refused. Rear extensions (more than 2,000 applications) are refused about 1 in 13, and windows and doors, side extensions and front extensions and porches are all refused about 1 in 12. Loft conversions and dormers are refused about 1 in 9, against about 1 in 5 across the areas we cover. Solar panels are refused about 1 in 11.

The harder projects are the outdoor ones. Fences, walls and gates are refused about 1 in 7 times, the same as the rate across the areas we cover and more often than the council overall. Driveways and dropped kerbs are refused about 1 in 6, better than the 1 in 5 across the areas we cover but again more often than other work in Conwy. If you are planning either, it is worth looking at what has been approved on nearby streets before you draw anything up.

For home extensions and loft conversions, the numbers are reassuring. A rear extension is refused far less often here than the 1 in 7 seen across the areas we cover, and most householder work in Conwy is approved.

Figures in this section as of 9 October 2026.