Housey Data Reports

Local league tables with a homeowner consequence — built from official UK data and refreshed as new figures land.

• Data Report

  The hardest places in England to renovate your home (2026)

  Ranked on Article 4 directions, conservation areas, approval rates and decision speed, Mole Valley comes out as the hardest place in England to renovate or extend — while homeowners in Fareham can more or less just get on with it. Where does your council sit?

  Data: planning.data.gov.uk (current) + MHCLG year ending March 2026

• Data Report

  Which English councils approve the most planning applications (2026)

  Whether the council blesses your dream extension depends less on your drawings than on your postcode. Across 296 English councils, 87.6% of planning decisions were granted in the year to March 2026 — but your odds swing from 64% in Barking and Dagenham to a near-formality 98% in Fareham.

  Data: Year ending March 2026

• Data Report

  The English councils missing the 8-week planning deadline (2026)

  Somewhere in England right now, a kitchen extension is sailing through planning inside 8 weeks — and somewhere else, an identical one is gathering dust. Across 296 English planning authorities, 91.5% of non-major decisions landed within the 8-week deadline (or an agreed extension) in the year to March 2026; in Cumberland, the slowest of all, just 66.6% did.

  Data: 12 months to end of March 2026

• Data Report

  Where a house extension still pays for itself (2026)

  In Kensington and Chelsea, £50,000 of builder's dust turns into 5.4× its cost in added value; in Hartlepool, the very same extension adds less than it costs to build. A typical £50,000 rear extension clearly pays for itself in 175 of 295 English areas — is yours one of them?

  Data: UK HPI average price, 01/04/2026

• Data Report

  The English areas facing the biggest EPC upgrade bill (2026)

  England's homes divide into the snug and the draughty: across 296 local authorities, 53.4% of lodged domestic EPCs sit below band C, the government's efficiency threshold — but the share ranges from just 23% in Tower Hamlets to 85% in Isles of Scilly. However cold your house feels this winter, someone has it worse.

  Data: All lodged domestic EPCs (current register)

• Data Report

  The hidden cost of moving house, by area (2026)

  Same boxes, same vans, wildly different bill: before a single key is handed over, moving home costs £5,633 in Hartlepool but £90,299 in Kensington and Chelsea — stamp duty, agent fees, conveyancing, survey and removals combined. Wherever you live, someone is paying a lot more than you to move house.

  Data: UK HPI average price, 01/04/2026