Guildford vs Kingston upon Thames — planning approval compared

How do planning outcomes differ between Guildford and Kingston upon Thames? A side-by-side comparison based on 32,366 combined decisions.

Last updated: March 2026

Guildford: 81.7%

16,951 decisions · 13,847 approved · 3,104 refused · 21 wards

Kingston upon Thames: 75.2%

15,415 decisions · 11,595 approved · 3,820 refused · 28 wards

Overall approval rates

Guildford (16,951 decided)

81.7%

Kingston upon Thames (15,415 decided)

75.2%

By application type

Advertisement — Guildford (295 decided)

84.4%

Advertisement — Kingston upon Thames (273 decided)

79.9%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Guildford (1,726 decided)

75.2%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Kingston upon Thames (2,510 decided)

72.8%

Discharge of Conditions — Guildford (2,261 decided)

75.9%

Discharge of Conditions — Kingston upon Thames (2,228 decided)

81.3%

Full — Guildford (8,667 decided)

81.6%

Full — Kingston upon Thames (8,296 decided)

73.4%

Listed Building — Guildford (523 decided)

88.1%

Listed Building — Kingston upon Thames (110 decided)

87.3%

Other — Guildford (1,523 decided)

73.8%

Other — Kingston upon Thames (873 decided)

60.0%

Prior Approval — Kingston upon Thames (56 decided)

50.0%

Trees — Guildford (1,956 decided)

98.6%

Trees — Kingston upon Thames (1,069 decided)

93.3%

What the numbers mean

There is a 6.5 percentage point difference in overall approval rates between these councils. Kingston upon Thames 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

Guildford full data Kingston upon Thames full data