South Gloucestershire vs Manchester — planning approval compared

How do planning outcomes differ between South Gloucestershire and Manchester? A side-by-side comparison based on 28,836 combined decisions.

Last updated: March 2026

South Gloucestershire: 86.8%

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

Manchester: 87.8%

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

Overall approval rates

South Gloucestershire (15,146 decided)

86.8%

Manchester (13,690 decided)

87.8%

By application type

Advertisement — South Gloucestershire (300 decided)

96.0%

Advertisement — Manchester (690 decided)

79.9%

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

85.9%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Manchester (654 decided)

80.7%

Change of Use — Manchester (632 decided)

91.9%

Discharge of Conditions — Manchester (4,397 decided)

84.9%

Full — South Gloucestershire (8,994 decided)

85.1%

Full — Manchester (5,548 decided)

89.7%

Listed Building — South Gloucestershire (601 decided)

94.0%

Listed Building — Manchester (561 decided)

97.5%

Other — South Gloucestershire (2,070 decided)

85.6%

Other — Manchester (393 decided)

85.5%

Prior Approval — South Gloucestershire (304 decided)

72.4%

Prior Approval — Manchester (95 decided)

77.9%

Trees — South Gloucestershire (1,692 decided)

96.0%

Trees — Manchester (720 decided)

96.8%

What the numbers mean

There is a 1.0 percentage point difference in overall approval rates between these councils. South Gloucestershire 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

South Gloucestershire full data Manchester full data