Leeds vs Guildford — planning approval compared

How do planning outcomes differ between Leeds and Guildford? A side-by-side comparison based on 33,725 combined decisions.

Last updated: February 2026

Leeds: 88.0%

17,629 decisions · 15,506 approved · 2,123 refused · 33 wards

Guildford: 81.8%

16,096 decisions · 13,160 approved · 2,936 refused · 21 wards

Overall approval rates

Leeds (17,629 decided)

88.0%

Guildford (16,096 decided)

81.8%

By application type

Advertisement — Leeds (455 decided)

88.6%

Advertisement — Guildford (274 decided)

85.4%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Leeds (1,951 decided)

84.8%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Guildford (1,637 decided)

75.0%

Discharge of Conditions — Leeds (1,943 decided)

89.7%

Discharge of Conditions — Guildford (2,143 decided)

76.5%

Full — Leeds (8,472 decided)

86.4%

Full — Guildford (8,209 decided)

81.5%

Listed Building — Leeds (470 decided)

91.3%

Listed Building — Guildford (503 decided)

88.1%

Other — Leeds (1,308 decided)

77.2%

Other — Guildford (1,448 decided)

73.8%

Trees — Leeds (3,030 decided)

97.1%

Trees — Guildford (1,882 decided)

98.7%

What the numbers mean

There is a 6.2 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

Leeds full data Guildford full data