Southwark vs South Gloucestershire — planning approval compared

How do planning outcomes differ between Southwark and South Gloucestershire? A side-by-side comparison based on 31,105 combined decisions.

Last updated: March 2026

Southwark: 92.8%

15,959 decisions · 14,813 approved · 1,146 refused · 23 wards

South Gloucestershire: 86.8%

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

Overall approval rates

Southwark (15,959 decided)

92.8%

South Gloucestershire (15,146 decided)

86.8%

By application type

Advertisement — Southwark (590 decided)

87.1%

Advertisement — South Gloucestershire (300 decided)

96.0%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Southwark (1,012 decided)

92.0%

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

85.9%

Change of Use — Southwark (207 decided)

81.6%

Full — Southwark (2,871 decided)

93.5%

Full — South Gloucestershire (8,994 decided)

85.1%

Listed Building — Southwark (770 decided)

91.0%

Listed Building — South Gloucestershire (601 decided)

94.0%

Other — Southwark (8,147 decided)

92.3%

Other — South Gloucestershire (2,070 decided)

85.6%

Prior Approval — Southwark (81 decided)

71.6%

Prior Approval — South Gloucestershire (304 decided)

72.4%

Trees — Southwark (2,281 decided)

98.0%

Trees — South Gloucestershire (1,692 decided)

96.0%

What the numbers mean

There is a 6.0 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

Southwark full data South Gloucestershire full data