Bristol vs Southwark — planning approval compared

How do planning outcomes differ between Bristol and Southwark? A side-by-side comparison based on 40,066 combined decisions.

Last updated: March 2026

Bristol: 86.9%

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

Southwark: 92.6%

18,656 decisions · 17,275 approved · 1,381 refused · 23 wards

Overall approval rates

Bristol (21,410 decided)

86.9%

Southwark (18,656 decided)

92.6%

By application type

Advertisement — Bristol (786 decided)

84.7%

Advertisement — Southwark (676 decided)

86.1%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Bristol (3,281 decided)

88.1%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Southwark (1,157 decided)

91.4%

Change of Use — Bristol (284 decided)

69.4%

Change of Use — Southwark (235 decided)

82.6%

Discharge of Conditions — Bristol (829 decided)

93.5%

Full — Bristol (11,772 decided)

86.0%

Full — Southwark (3,406 decided)

93.4%

Listed Building — Bristol (1,634 decided)

91.2%

Listed Building — Southwark (907 decided)

90.6%

Other — Bristol (304 decided)

77.6%

Other — Southwark (9,551 decided)

92.1%

Prior Approval — Bristol (1,152 decided)

83.3%

Prior Approval — Southwark (86 decided)

69.8%

Trees — Bristol (1,368 decided)

93.2%

Trees — Southwark (2,638 decided)

97.8%

What the numbers mean

There is a 5.7 percentage point difference in overall approval rates between these councils. Bristol 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 Southwark full data