County Durham vs Cotswold — planning approval compared

How do planning outcomes differ between County Durham and Cotswold? A side-by-side comparison based on 14,786 combined decisions.

Last updated: February 2026

County Durham: 94.9%

7,693 decisions · 7,297 approved · 396 refused · 113 wards

Cotswold: 96.6%

7,093 decisions · 6,853 approved · 240 refused · 32 wards

Overall approval rates

County Durham (7,693 decided)

94.9%

Cotswold (7,093 decided)

96.6%

By application type

Advertisement — County Durham (266 decided)

97.0%

Advertisement — Cotswold (44 decided)

97.7%

Certificate of Lawfulness — County Durham (102 decided)

79.4%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Cotswold (151 decided)

90.1%

Change of Use — County Durham (13 decided)

92.3%

Discharge of Conditions — County Durham (1,162 decided)

98.7%

Discharge of Conditions — Cotswold (737 decided)

99.7%

Full — County Durham (3,958 decided)

94.2%

Full — Cotswold (3,157 decided)

95.3%

Listed Building — County Durham (358 decided)

98.0%

Listed Building — Cotswold (723 decided)

96.0%

Other — County Durham (530 decided)

95.1%

Other — Cotswold (387 decided)

89.9%

Prior Approval — County Durham (257 decided)

92.2%

Prior Approval — Cotswold (21 decided)

90.5%

Trees — County Durham (1,047 decided)

93.3%

Trees — Cotswold (1,873 decided)

99.8%

What the numbers mean

There is a 1.7 percentage point difference in overall approval rates between these councils. County Durham 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

County Durham full data Cotswold full data