Bristol vs Guildford — planning approval compared

How do planning outcomes differ between Bristol and Guildford? A side-by-side comparison based on 35,937 combined decisions.

Last updated: March 2026

Bristol: 86.8%

18,986 decisions · 16,471 approved · 2,515 refused · 34 wards

Guildford: 81.7%

16,951 decisions · 13,847 approved · 3,104 refused · 21 wards

Overall approval rates

Bristol (18,986 decided)

86.8%

Guildford (16,951 decided)

81.7%

By application type

Advertisement — Bristol (685 decided)

84.5%

Advertisement — Guildford (295 decided)

84.4%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Bristol (2,986 decided)

87.4%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Guildford (1,726 decided)

75.2%

Change of Use — Bristol (252 decided)

70.2%

Discharge of Conditions — Bristol (728 decided)

93.0%

Discharge of Conditions — Guildford (2,261 decided)

75.9%

Full — Bristol (10,360 decided)

85.8%

Full — Guildford (8,667 decided)

81.6%

Listed Building — Bristol (1,436 decided)

91.6%

Listed Building — Guildford (523 decided)

88.1%

Other — Bristol (271 decided)

76.4%

Other — Guildford (1,523 decided)

73.8%

Prior Approval — Bristol (1,030 decided)

83.3%

Trees — Bristol (1,238 decided)

93.7%

Trees — Guildford (1,956 decided)

98.6%

What the numbers mean

There is a 5.1 percentage point difference in overall approval rates between these councils. Guildford 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

Bristol full data Guildford full data