County Durham vs Manchester — planning approval compared

How do planning outcomes differ between County Durham and Manchester? A side-by-side comparison based on 27,913 combined decisions.

Last updated: March 2026

County Durham: 95.0%

14,223 decisions · 13,506 approved · 717 refused · 113 wards

Manchester: 87.8%

13,690 decisions · 12,025 approved · 1,665 refused · 32 wards

Overall approval rates

County Durham (14,223 decided)

95.0%

Manchester (13,690 decided)

87.8%

By application type

Advertisement — County Durham (483 decided)

97.5%

Advertisement — Manchester (690 decided)

79.9%

Certificate of Lawfulness — County Durham (191 decided)

85.3%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Manchester (654 decided)

80.7%

Change of Use — County Durham (47 decided)

80.9%

Change of Use — Manchester (632 decided)

91.9%

Discharge of Conditions — County Durham (2,215 decided)

99.1%

Discharge of Conditions — Manchester (4,397 decided)

84.9%

Full — County Durham (7,275 decided)

94.4%

Full — Manchester (5,548 decided)

89.7%

Listed Building — County Durham (652 decided)

98.0%

Listed Building — Manchester (561 decided)

97.5%

Other — County Durham (974 decided)

95.8%

Other — Manchester (393 decided)

85.5%

Prior Approval — County Durham (416 decided)

90.6%

Prior Approval — Manchester (95 decided)

77.9%

Trees — County Durham (1,970 decided)

92.5%

Trees — Manchester (720 decided)

96.8%

What the numbers mean

There is a 7.2 percentage point difference in overall approval rates between these councils. Manchester 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 Manchester full data