Sunderland planning applications
SiteLens tracks and classifies every planning application submitted to Sunderland City Council, updated daily. Sunderland City Council received 247 planning applications in the last 90 days, 5 of them major schemes. 90% of the applications it decided were approved, with a median decision time of 48 days.
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Recent applications in Sunderland
See all →Majors and higher-value work first, tree works, condition discharges and adverts last.
Land South West Of Short Row Bournmoor
Hybrid 299-home scheme, full and outline permission, Bournmoor. Full permission for 111 dwellings with access and infrastructure, plus outline for up to 188 more and school expansion land. Groundworks, drainage and frame packages open first on the full phase, with brickwork, roofing and M&E…
GroundworksStructural frameBrickwork
56-90 High Street West Sunderland SR1 3DP
216-apartment mixed-use scheme with commercial space, Sunderland High Street. Screening opinion sought on whether Environmental Impact Assessment is required for apartments, retail/office and existing-building conversion and demolition. The scheme's scale—216 units plus 1,650 sqm…
DemolitionStructural frameGroundworks
Onyx Scientific Wayfarer Road Southwick Sunderland SR5 3XA
234.78 kWp roof-mounted solar array on an industrial building, Sunderland. Installs photovoltaic panels on an existing roof at full application stage. Electrical integration, mounting steelwork and inverter installation open the packages for renewable energy specialists.
RenewablesM&ESteel
Onyx Scientific Unit 95-97 Enterprise Park East Silverbriar Sunderland Southwick SR5 2TQ
169 kWp roof-mounted solar array on a commercial unit, Sunderland. Installs photovoltaic panels on the existing building's roof at full application stage. Electrical installation and roof penetration works dominate, with grid-connection and metering follow-on packages.
RenewablesM&E
Lloyds TSB 54 Fawcett Street Sunderland SR1 1SF
Listed building consent for internal door replacement and repair, Sunderland city centre. Replaces and repairs various internal doors in a Fawcett Street bank, at consent stage. Joinery and conservation-grade door hardware suppliers are the trades here, with timber and ironmongery sourcing the…
Joinery
3 - 4 Heworth Road Washington NE37 2PY
Dog grooming and day care change of use, Washington, 114 sqm. Converts a Class E unit at 3-4 Heworth Road to sui generis use at full application stage. Wash-bay drainage, ventilation and acoustic fit-out will drive the work for local M&E and plumbing subcontractors.
Fit-outM&EDrainage
The Cottage Shop West View Cottage Bog Row Hetton-le-Hole Houghton-le-Spring DH5 9JN
Shopfront alteration and retained takeaway use, Hetton-le-Hole, full application stage. Alters a 55 sqm ground-floor unit combining E(a) retail and a hot food takeaway, regularising the approved mix. Glazing and joinery packages for the new shopfront are the live work for local installers.
GlazingJoinery
Houghton Carpet Centre Rear Of 3 - 5 Mautland Street Houghton-le-Spring DH4 4BH
Carpet showroom converting to music studio, Sunderland. 58 sqm ground-floor unit repurposed for rehearsal and recording at full application stage. Acoustic treatment, soundproofing, electrical upgrade and specialist fit-out drive the works.
Fit-outM&EInsulation
Land Adjacent 2 Hawthorn Avenue Sunderland SR3 1DU
Land conversion to private garden with boundary treatment, Sunderland. Redesignates adjoining land as domestic curtilage and installs new fencing at full application stage. Boundary fencing and hard landscaping packages suit local contractors on this modest-scale residential site.
Hard landscapingGroundworks
195 Alston Crescent Sunderland SR6 8NG
Two-storey side extension and porch at a Sunderland house, full application stage. Adds ground and first floor space to the side of an existing dwelling. Brickwork, roofing and groundworks for the new footings are the main packages, with joinery and glazing for the porch and new openings.
BrickworkRoofingGroundworks
8 Golf Course Road Houghton-le-Spring DH4 4PJ
Detached garage conversion to habitable room, Houghton-le-Spring. Adapts an existing outbuilding into usable living space at full application stage. Structural opening, insulation, M&E and partition work create the main packages for specialist fit-out contractors.
Structural repairM&EInsulation
31 Bollihope Drive Sunderland SR3 1PJ
Two-storey side extension and single-storey front extension, Sunderland. Adds upper and ground floor space to an existing house at full application stage. Brickwork, roofing and foundations dominate the package, with glazing and internal fit-out to follow.
GroundworksBrickworkRoofing
23 Grasmoor View Sunderland SR5 5EG
Two-storey rear extension with garage conversion, Sunderland. Adds a two-storey extension and first-floor balcony to an existing house at full application stage. Structural steel over the garage opening, roofing, brickwork and balcony installation are the principal packages.
Structural repairSteelBrickwork
6 Cherribank Sunderland SR2 0JD
Single-storey side extension adding bedroom and ensuite, Sunderland. Extends an existing house to create additional bedroom accommodation at full application stage. Brickwork, roofing, drainage and glazing packages suit local subcontractors, with M&E and sanitaryware fit-out following.
BrickworkRoofingGroundworks
Land At Town End Farm Workmens Club Bexhill Road Sunderland SR5 4QF
Retrospective parcel locker siting, Sunderland, full application stage. A single 4 sqm InPost locker already installed on a Bexhill Road site, now seeking retrospective planning consent. Works are already complete, so the only opportunity is a minor base or electrical connection for a local…
Groundworks
Planning appeals in Sunderland City Council
An allowed appeal is one the council lost. Some kinds of appeal succeed far more often than others, so Sunderland City Council is compared with the national rate for its own mix.
Sunderland City Council, raw rate
22.6%
of judged appeals were allowed
Expected for this mix of appeals
28.1%
national rates applied to this caseload
5.5 percentage points below expected. Sunderland City Council's decisions are overturned less often than the national record predicts.
272 appeals counted, 261 judged either way (59 allowed, 202 dismissed), 11 judged neither way. These are appeals decided 2016-07 to 2026-06.
By kind of appeal
| Appeal type | This council | National | Cases | Judged | Allowed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planning Appeal | 25.5% | 28.8% | 147 | 145 | 37 |
| Householder (HAS) | 18% | 35.6% | 51 | 50 | 9 |
| Enforcement Notice | 14.6% | 13.5% | 44 | 41 | 6 |
| Commercial Appeal Service (CAS) | 26.7% | 33.3% | 15 | 15 | 4 |
7 more appeal types with fewer than 5 judged
| Appeal type | This council | National | Cases | Judged | Allowed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawful Development Certificate | Too few judged | 36.9% | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Advertisement Appeal | Too few judged | 36% | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| High Hedges | None judged | 28.5% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Rights of Way Opposed Orders | None judged | Not published | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tree Preservation Order | Too few judged | 20.6% | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Tree Replacement Notice | Too few judged | 31.9% | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Appeal against Enforcement Listed Building Notice/Enforcement Conservation Area Notice | Too few judged | 8.1% | 1 | 1 | 0 |
How we calculate this
Judged means allowed or dismissed. Withdrawn, invalid, split and unrecorded appeals are counted but never treated as appeals the council won. Expected applies the national rate for each appeal type to this council's own caseload. National rates by type are in The State of UK Planning.
Source: the Planning Inspectorate's Casework Database on GOV.UK, not the council's own planning register. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Money behind development in Sunderland City Council
Sunderland City Council's developer contribution register is not yet in SiteLens.
Affordable housing grant in Sunderland City Council
What central government confirmed: schemes in the area with Homes England grant agreed.
- Affordable rent354 homes
- Shared ownership100 homes
Source: Homes England Affordable Homes Programme 2021 to 2026, GOV.UK transparency data, as at 31 March 2025. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Grant requested is the figure when grant was confirmed, not money drawn down. Schemes are placed by local authority name.
Sunderland City Council approval rates by application type
Share of decided applications approved in the last 12 months.
- other88% (90 decided)
- householder100% (35 decided)
- commercial90% (10 decided)
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What you get with SiteLens
Map and project brief
Applications on a live map, with categories, trades and plain-English briefs. Filter by estimated value band.
Constraints and tenders
24 constraint flags on every site, and the public tenders and awards near it.
Daily alerts
New matching applications from this council, by email each morning.
Who's behind it (Pro)
The agent and applicant, their contact details where published, and the company directors.
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