Bristol vs Lewisham — planning approval compared

How do planning outcomes differ between Bristol and Lewisham? A side-by-side comparison based on 40,306 combined decisions.

Last updated: March 2026

Bristol: 86.9%

21,410 decisions · 18,610 approved · 2,800 refused · 34 wards

Lewisham: 82.2%

18,896 decisions · 15,540 approved · 3,356 refused · 20 wards

Overall approval rates

Bristol (21,410 decided)

86.9%

Lewisham (18,896 decided)

82.2%

By application type

Advertisement — Bristol (786 decided)

84.7%

Advertisement — Lewisham (266 decided)

77.8%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Bristol (3,281 decided)

88.1%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Lewisham (2,583 decided)

82.7%

Change of Use — Bristol (284 decided)

69.4%

Discharge of Conditions — Bristol (829 decided)

93.5%

Discharge of Conditions — Lewisham (79 decided)

97.5%

Full — Bristol (11,772 decided)

86.0%

Full — Lewisham (11,462 decided)

78.4%

Listed Building — Bristol (1,634 decided)

91.2%

Listed Building — Lewisham (190 decided)

90.0%

Other — Bristol (304 decided)

77.6%

Other — Lewisham (1,088 decided)

84.3%

Prior Approval — Bristol (1,152 decided)

83.3%

Prior Approval — Lewisham (293 decided)

40.3%

Trees — Bristol (1,368 decided)

93.2%

Trees — Lewisham (2,935 decided)

99.7%

What the numbers mean

There is a 4.7 percentage point difference in overall approval rates between these councils. Lewisham 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 Lewisham full data