Nightclub planning trends
The nightclub planning index stands at 63: nightclubs take less than two thirds of their 2016 share of applications, 8% more than three years earlier.
Nightclub applications since 2016
Nightclub applications in every 10,000 planning applications, over the 12 months to each month
How this is measuredUnder two thirds of the 2016 share
Councils received 61 nightclub applications in the 12 months to September 2026. Total applications fell faster, so nightclubs' share is 8% higher than three years earlier. The nightclub planning index stands at 63, after a peak of 111 in the 12 months to July 2018.
Q3 2026 against a year earlier
Councils received 15 nightclub applications in Q3 2026, too few to compare their share with a year earlier.
Nightclub applications each quarter
15 in Q3 2026, against 14 a year earlier.
Out of every 10,000 applications
As a share of every application: 1.5 in every 10,000 in Q3 2026, against 1.3 a year earlier.
Where nightclub applications concentrate
Councils with the most
Applications since 2016
-
Birmingham
West Midlands · 4.2 in every 10,000 27 -
Leeds
Yorkshire and Humber · 3.9 in every 10,000 23 -
Bristol
South West · 5.9 in every 10,000 22 -
Leicester
East Midlands · 8.9 in every 10,000 18 -
Liverpool
North West · 5.5 in every 10,000 15 -
Manchester
North West · 5.6 in every 10,000 15 -
Southwark
London · 6.5 in every 10,000 15 -
Hull
Yorkshire and Humber · 14 in every 10,000 14 -
Westminster
London · 2.3 in every 10,000 14 -
Cornwall
South West · 1.7 in every 10,000 13
Latest nightclub applications
- Meadowpark Hotel 56 Kenilworth Road Bridge Of Allan Internal and external alterations to allow the conversion of the nightclub into 4 hotel suites including two front-facing dormers incorporating double French doors with sidelights
- Meadowpark Hotel 56 Kenilworth Road Bridge Of Allan Change of use of the nightclub to the rear of Hotel (Sui Generis) to 4 hotel suites (Class 7) and associated works
- 7 - 11 Bull Plain Hertford Hertfordshire Change of use of the ground floor and basement from nightclub to restaurant, bar and indoor sports and recreation facility, change of use of first and second floors to form 6no. self-contained apartments (4 x 1-bed and 2 x 2-bed) (Use Class C3), one single storey extension within rear courtyard, alterations to fenestration, replacement kitchen extraction plant and associated works
- 9A East Parade Leeds Change of use of the lower ground floor from an existing nightclub (Sui Generis use) to a spa and wellness facility
- 9A East Parade Leeds Listed building application for Change of use of the lower ground floor from an existing nightclub (Sui Generis use) to a spa and wellness facility with internal alterations including; Partitioning and sub-division, new internal doors and glazed screens, new shower and sanitary accommodation, installation of spa and wellness equipment, internal finishes joinery and fitted furniture
- City Bar Miers Street St Thomas Swansea Demolition of a nightclub premises and construction of 16 apartments with associated parking.
Questions
How many nightclub planning applications are there in the UK?
Councils have received 1,015 since January 2016, 61 of them in the 12 months to September 2026. Their share peaked in the 12 months to July 2018.
Which councils receive the most nightclub applications?
Birmingham, Leeds and Bristol have received the most since 2016.
Are nightclub planning applications falling?
Over the decade, yes: the nightclub planning index stands at 63, less than two thirds of its 2016 share. It fell to 53 in the 12 months to February 2022, rose to 94 in the 12 months to October 2024 and has eased since.
How many nightclubs are left in the UK?
The Night Time Industries Association counted 823 nightclubs in its fourth electronic music report, reported by Access All Areas in February 2026, a fall of 36% since 2020. These figures count planning applications, so the two measures answer different questions.
About Plota
Plota is the UK's most visited planning search, according to Similarweb. It shows every new planning application from every UK council, read daily from 390 planning registers, with past applications back to 2016 from more than 420 registers, including those of councils since merged. It also covers planning committee decisions, HMO licences and premises licences.
How this is measured
What needs an application
In England nightclubs sit outside the use classes, so converting a club to another use needs a planning application. These figures count clubs closing as well as opening.
Methodology
- What is counted: planning applications to UK councils whose description names nightclubs or a close variant of the words, by the date each council received them. These are planning applications, not completed schemes; the largest energy and infrastructure projects are consented nationally rather than by councils, so they sit outside these counts.
- How matches are checked: we read the 200 most recent nightclub applications and 20 from every year since 2016 to confirm each one belongs.
- Topic counts leave out, by design, works to trees and applications that only discharge conditions, amend an earlier permission or approve reserved matters, which follow a scheme already counted. Everything else is counted.
- A share is the number out of every 10,000 applications over the previous 12 months. Each topic is a number in every 10,000 planning applications, so trends compare when overall planning activity changes; the share still moves when either the topic's count or the total does. The nightclub planning index sets the 2016 share at 100, so 200 means twice as common as in 2016.
- Source: the planning registers of every UK council, January 2016 to September 2026, read on 9 November 2026.
- Planning is seasonal, so each quarter is compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Year on year: each topic's and theme's share of all applications in Q3 2026, against Q3 2025, at every council we hold. A share is the number in every 10,000 applications. Shares compare across councils and years; raw counts do not.
- Left out of the topic shares: Birmingham's applications from June to September 2026: a validation backlog at the council since June 2026: of 685 reference numbers it issued in September, its register lists 288. The same months a year earlier are left out too, so every comparison covers the same councils.
- Download the data (CSV): every topic and theme, each quarter since 2016.
Sources
- The Night Time Industries Association's fourth electronic music report counted 823 UK nightclubs, down 36% since 2020. accessaa.co.uk
- SI 2005/84 added a night-club to the sui generis uses in article 3(6) of the Use Classes Order in England from 21 April 2005. legislation.gov.uk