Southwark vs County Durham — planning approval compared

How do planning outcomes differ between Southwark and County Durham? A side-by-side comparison based on 16,286 combined decisions.

Last updated: February 2026

Southwark: 93.3%

8,593 decisions · 8,018 approved · 575 refused · 23 wards

County Durham: 94.9%

7,693 decisions · 7,297 approved · 396 refused · 113 wards

Overall approval rates

Southwark (8,593 decided)

93.3%

County Durham (7,693 decided)

94.9%

By application type

Advertisement — Southwark (315 decided)

87.6%

Advertisement — County Durham (266 decided)

97.0%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Southwark (546 decided)

94.0%

Certificate of Lawfulness — County Durham (102 decided)

79.4%

Change of Use — Southwark (147 decided)

81.6%

Change of Use — County Durham (13 decided)

92.3%

Discharge of Conditions — County Durham (1,162 decided)

98.7%

Full — Southwark (1,620 decided)

94.4%

Full — County Durham (3,958 decided)

94.2%

Listed Building — Southwark (420 decided)

90.5%

Listed Building — County Durham (358 decided)

98.0%

Other — Southwark (4,378 decided)

92.9%

Other — County Durham (530 decided)

95.1%

Prior Approval — Southwark (42 decided)

66.7%

Prior Approval — County Durham (257 decided)

92.2%

Trees — Southwark (1,125 decided)

98.1%

Trees — County Durham (1,047 decided)

93.3%

What the numbers mean

There is a 1.6 percentage point difference in overall approval rates between these councils. Southwark 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

Southwark full data County Durham full data