FOI release

FOI Request - Planning applications

Case reference FOI2026/00624

Received 18 June 2026

Published 16 July 2026

Request

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would like to request the following information relating to planning applications for residential home extensions within your local authority area. For each financial year from 2024/25 to 2025/26 (or the most recent two years available), please provide: 1. The total number of planning applications submitted for residential home extensions. 2. The total number of planning applications for residential home extensions that were approved. 3. The total number of planning applications for residential home extensions that were refused. 4. Where available, a breakdown of applications and refusals by extension type, including: Rear extensions Side extensions Front extensions Two-storey extensions Loft conversions Conservatories Other residential extensions 5. Where available, the five most common reasons cited for refusal of residential extension applications during the period. Please provide the information in Excel or CSV format where possible. For the purposes of this request, "residential home extensions" refers to planning applications relating to extensions, enlargements or alterations to existing residential properties. If any part of this request exceeds the cost limit, please provide the information for the most recent year available and advise how the request may be refined. Kind regards, Laura Wilson [Image removed by sender. line]

Response

In accordance with section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), Oxford City Council (OCC) confirms that it holds information relevant to your request.

 

Details of approved and refused planning applications are publicly available through OCC’s Public Access planning system. The system allows users to search for planning applications and view the associated application descriptions, decisions and published decision documents.

 

As this information is reasonably accessible to you by other means, it is exempt from disclosure under section 21 of the FOIA. Section 21 applies where requested information is already reasonably accessible through another source. It is an absolute exemption and is therefore not subject to the public interest test.

 

This does not mean that OCC is refusing access to the information; rather, the relevant planning application records are already available through an existing public source.

 

In accordance with section 16 of the FOIA, OCC has a duty to provide advice and assistance, so far as it would be reasonable to do so. To assist you in locating the relevant information, links to OCC’s Public Access planning system are provided below.

 

OCC’s planning application webpage is available here.

The Public Access planning search is available directly here.

 

The planning search can be used to locate relevant applications and view the information and documents published in relation to them.

Documents

There are no documents for this release.

This is Oxford City Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.

You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.