Bradford vs Bristol — planning approval compared

How do planning outcomes differ between Bradford and Bristol? A side-by-side comparison based on 27,173 combined decisions.

Last updated: February 2026

Bradford: 79.0%

14,325 decisions · 11,317 approved · 3,008 refused · 30 wards

Bristol: 88.3%

12,848 decisions · 11,343 approved · 1,505 refused · 34 wards

Overall approval rates

Bradford (14,325 decided)

79.0%

Bristol (12,848 decided)

88.3%

By application type

Advertisement — Bradford (270 decided)

76.7%

Advertisement — Bristol (413 decided)

86.9%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Bradford (779 decided)

81.9%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Bristol (1,923 decided)

89.8%

Change of Use — Bristol (165 decided)

66.1%

Discharge of Conditions — Bradford (186 decided)

88.2%

Discharge of Conditions — Bristol (525 decided)

92.8%

Full — Bradford (7,950 decided)

83.6%

Full — Bristol (7,030 decided)

87.6%

Listed Building — Bradford (601 decided)

88.5%

Listed Building — Bristol (943 decided)

93.0%

Other — Bradford (1,421 decided)

89.4%

Other — Bristol (206 decided)

75.2%

Prior Approval — Bradford (1,804 decided)

70.1%

Prior Approval — Bristol (728 decided)

83.2%

Trees — Bradford (1,314 decided)

45.2%

Trees — Bristol (915 decided)

94.4%

What the numbers mean

There is a 9.3 percentage point difference in overall approval rates between these councils. Bradford is the stricter of the two, which means similar applications may face higher refusal risk there. However, approval rates vary by ward and application type, so your specific situation may differ from the averages.

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See detailed data

Bradford full data Bristol full data