York vs Cotswold — planning approval compared

How do planning outcomes differ between York and Cotswold? A side-by-side comparison based on 14,422 combined decisions.

Last updated: February 2026

York: 85.7%

7,329 decisions · 6,279 approved · 1,050 refused · 21 wards

Cotswold: 96.6%

7,093 decisions · 6,853 approved · 240 refused · 32 wards

Overall approval rates

York (7,329 decided)

85.7%

Cotswold (7,093 decided)

96.6%

By application type

Advertisement — York (280 decided)

84.3%

Advertisement — Cotswold (44 decided)

97.7%

Certificate of Lawfulness — York (357 decided)

86.8%

Certificate of Lawfulness — Cotswold (151 decided)

90.1%

Discharge of Conditions — Cotswold (737 decided)

99.7%

Full — York (2,370 decided)

75.7%

Full — Cotswold (3,157 decided)

95.3%

Listed Building — York (634 decided)

90.4%

Listed Building — Cotswold (723 decided)

96.0%

Other — York (2,174 decided)

89.8%

Other — Cotswold (387 decided)

89.9%

Prior Approval — York (47 decided)

80.9%

Prior Approval — Cotswold (21 decided)

90.5%

Trees — York (1,467 decided)

93.7%

Trees — Cotswold (1,873 decided)

99.8%

What the numbers mean

There is a 10.9 percentage point difference in overall approval rates between these councils. York 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

York full data Cotswold full data