Guildford vs South Gloucestershire — planning approval compared

How do planning outcomes differ between Guildford and South Gloucestershire? A side-by-side comparison based on 32,097 combined decisions.

Last updated: March 2026

Guildford: 81.7%

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

South Gloucestershire: 86.8%

15,146 decisions · 13,144 approved · 2,002 refused · 39 wards

Overall approval rates

Guildford (16,951 decided)

81.7%

South Gloucestershire (15,146 decided)

86.8%

By application type

Advertisement — Guildford (295 decided)

84.4%

Advertisement — South Gloucestershire (300 decided)

96.0%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Guildford (1,726 decided)

75.2%

Certificate of Lawfulness — South Gloucestershire (1,174 decided)

85.9%

Discharge of Conditions — Guildford (2,261 decided)

75.9%

Full — Guildford (8,667 decided)

81.6%

Full — South Gloucestershire (8,994 decided)

85.1%

Listed Building — Guildford (523 decided)

88.1%

Listed Building — South Gloucestershire (601 decided)

94.0%

Other — Guildford (1,523 decided)

73.8%

Other — South Gloucestershire (2,070 decided)

85.6%

Prior Approval — South Gloucestershire (304 decided)

72.4%

Trees — Guildford (1,956 decided)

98.6%

Trees — South Gloucestershire (1,692 decided)

96.0%

What the numbers mean

There is a 5.1 percentage point difference in overall approval rates between these councils. Guildford 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 South Gloucestershire full data