Bradford Council approves 78.8% of planning applications, based on 26,787 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Bradford sits 9.2 percentage points below the national average.
Enter your postcode for a free, personalised approval pattern report — based on your ward and application type.
Not all applications are treated equally. Extension types, listed building consent, and change of use applications each have very different success rates in Bradford.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | 12,096 | 2,568 | 14,664 | 82.5% |
| Prior Approval | 2,311 | 1,128 | 3,439 | 67.2% |
| Other | 2,535 | 300 | 2,835 | 89.4% |
| Trees | 1,327 | 1,149 | 2,476 | 53.6% |
| Certificate of Lawfulness | 1,144 | 256 | 1,400 | 81.7% |
| Listed Building | 992 | 131 | 1,123 | 88.3% |
| Advertisement | 389 | 120 | 509 | 76.4% |
| Discharge of Conditions | 304 | 37 | 341 | 89.1% |
A loft conversion in one ward can have a 90% approval rate. In the next ward, 55%. The free check tells you which side you're on — your free property report is emailed in minutes.
Check My PostcodeWard-level data reveals where planning applications are most and least likely to succeed. Officers, local policies, and neighbourhood character all play a role.
| Ward | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ilkley | 1,888 | 799 | 2,687 | 70.3% |
| City | 1,165 | 280 | 1,445 | 80.6% |
| Wharfedale | 1,119 | 222 | 1,341 | 83.4% |
| Craven | 1,043 | 273 | 1,316 | 79.3% |
| Heaton | 1,000 | 281 | 1,281 | 78.1% |
| Worth Valley | 800 | 342 | 1,142 | 70.1% |
| Bingley | 804 | 305 | 1,109 | 72.5% |
| Shipley | 879 | 177 | 1,056 | 83.2% |
| Bingley Rural | 817 | 210 | 1,027 | 79.6% |
| Baildon | 717 | 238 | 955 | 75.1% |
| Thornton And Allerton | 731 | 166 | 897 | 81.5% |
| Great Horton | 710 | 147 | 857 | 82.8% |
| Keighley East | 658 | 187 | 845 | 77.9% |
| Idle And Thackley | 637 | 163 | 800 | 79.6% |
| Bolton And Undercliffe | 648 | 148 | 796 | 81.4% |
| Keighley Central | 634 | 150 | 784 | 80.9% |
| Bradford Moor | 633 | 122 | 755 | 83.8% |
| Bowling And Barkerend | 624 | 124 | 748 | 83.4% |
| Toller | 620 | 121 | 741 | 83.7% |
| Clayton And Fairweather Green | 576 | 157 | 733 | 78.6% |
| Eccleshill | 559 | 120 | 679 | 82.3% |
| Queensbury | 532 | 142 | 674 | 78.9% |
| Little Horton | 520 | 88 | 608 | 85.5% |
| Manningham | 423 | 180 | 603 | 70.1% |
| Wibsey | 468 | 105 | 573 | 81.7% |
Showing top 25 of 30 wards by volume. Your free property report includes the full ward breakdown.
See full ward breakdown →How Bradford’s planning approval rate has changed year by year — down 4.8pp since 2020.
Bar height reflects approval rate. Colour: green ≥85%, amber ≥70%, red below 70%.
Real residential planning decisions from Bradford council. Each reference links to the council's own planning portal so you can verify the details yourself.
| Reference | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 26/00253/PNH Toller | Construction of single storey rear extension of the following dimensions:Depth o | Approved |
| 26/00367/PIP Wharfedale | Construction of four self-build dwellings | Refused |
| 26/00234/PNH Queensbury | Construction of single storey rear extension of the following dimensions:Depth o | Approved |
| 26/00124/PNH Bolton And Undercliffe | Construction of single storey rear extension of the following dimensions:Depth o | Approved |
| 25/04769/LBC Thornton And Allerton | Rebuilding of the front external elevation and associated structural stabilisati | Refused |
| 26/00051/TPO Worth Valley | T1 Beech - Prune to give a 3m clearance from the dwelling of 29 Longacre Lane. | Approved |
| 25/04254/HOU Eccleshill | First floor extension; two storey side extension; single storey rear extension; | Approved |
| 25/03441/FUL Royds | Change of use of existing property to F1 use (Learning and non-residential insti | Approved |
| 26/00144/PNH Bowling And Barkerend | Construction of single storey rear extension of the following dimensions:Depth o | Approved |
| 26/00152/PNH City | Construction of single storey rear extension of the following dimensions:Depth o | Approved |
Find out what actually gets approved near your address first. Your free property report analyses the 20 nearest decisions to your property, ward-specific refusal patterns, and extension-by-extension approval patterns. Based on Bradford's 26,787 real decisions. Free, emailed in minutes.
Check my postcodeCompare Bradford's planning approval rates with neighbouring areas:
Dig deeper into Bradford's planning statistics — by ward, extension type, or project category:
Data-driven guides to help you understand planning approval patterns:
Yes. PlanningLens offers a free planning permission check for Bradford. Enter your postcode to instantly see approval rates for your ward and application type, based on 26,787 real decisions from Bradford council. The full property-specific report is also free and emailed within minutes.
Enter your postcode on PlanningLens for a free instant check based on Bradford's real planning decisions. The free property report goes further: it analyses the 20 nearest comparable decisions to your property, ward-level refusal patterns, and approval rates by application type. Free and emailed within minutes.
Based on 26,787 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in Bradford is 78.8%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 26,787 planning decisions from Bradford council. 21,098 were approved and 5,689 were refused. These figures cover decisions from January 2020 to the present.
The average approval rate in Bradford is 78.8%, but outcomes depend heavily on your specific ward, the type of extension or development you are proposing, and local planning policy. Use the free PlanningLens postcode check to get a personalised score.