Bristol vs Tower Hamlets — planning approval compared

How do planning outcomes differ between Bristol and Tower Hamlets? A side-by-side comparison based on 24,982 combined decisions.

Last updated: February 2026

Bristol: 88.3%

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

Tower Hamlets: 87.9%

12,134 decisions · 10,667 approved · 1,467 refused · 22 wards

Overall approval rates

Bristol (12,848 decided)

88.3%

Tower Hamlets (12,134 decided)

87.9%

By application type

Advertisement — Bristol (413 decided)

86.9%

Advertisement — Tower Hamlets (517 decided)

82.0%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Bristol (1,923 decided)

89.8%

Change of Use — Bristol (165 decided)

66.1%

Discharge of Conditions — Bristol (525 decided)

92.8%

Discharge of Conditions — Tower Hamlets (3,070 decided)

97.2%

Full — Bristol (7,030 decided)

87.6%

Full — Tower Hamlets (3,864 decided)

78.7%

Listed Building — Bristol (943 decided)

93.0%

Listed Building — Tower Hamlets (830 decided)

88.2%

Other — Bristol (206 decided)

75.2%

Other — Tower Hamlets (3,061 decided)

88.4%

Prior Approval — Bristol (728 decided)

83.2%

Prior Approval — Tower Hamlets (17 decided)

94.1%

Trees — Bristol (915 decided)

94.4%

Trees — Tower Hamlets (775 decided)

98.6%

What the numbers mean

There is a 0.4 percentage point difference in overall approval rates between these councils. Tower Hamlets 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 Tower Hamlets full data