Bury Council approves 91.2% of planning applications, based on 4,896 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Bury sits 3.2 percentage points above 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 Bury.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | 2,589 | 155 | 2,744 | 94.4% |
| Other | 1,234 | 185 | 1,419 | 87.0% |
| Certificate of Lawfulness | 444 | 63 | 507 | 87.6% |
| Advertisement | 125 | 26 | 151 | 82.8% |
| Discharge of Conditions | 42 | 1 | 43 | 97.7% |
| Listed Building | 16 | 1 | 17 | 94.1% |
| Prior Approval | 15 | 0 | 15 | 100.0% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prestwich - Sedgley | 418 | 75 | 493 | 84.8% |
| North Manor | 413 | 41 | 454 | 91.0% |
| Ramsbottom | 362 | 35 | 397 | 91.2% |
| Bury East | 317 | 34 | 351 | 90.3% |
| Whitefield + Unsworth - Pilkington Park | 321 | 19 | 340 | 94.4% |
| Prestwich - Holyrood | 264 | 28 | 292 | 90.4% |
| Bury East - Redvales | 249 | 28 | 277 | 89.9% |
| Prestwich - St Mary's | 256 | 20 | 276 | 92.8% |
| Whitefield + Unsworth - Unsworth | 246 | 15 | 261 | 94.3% |
| Bury West - Church | 237 | 14 | 251 | 94.4% |
| Tottington | 235 | 10 | 245 | 95.9% |
| Bury West - Elton | 208 | 15 | 223 | 93.3% |
| Radcliffe - East | 188 | 24 | 212 | 88.7% |
| Radcliffe - North and Ainsworth | 181 | 18 | 199 | 91.0% |
| Bury East - Moorside | 177 | 13 | 190 | 93.2% |
| Whitefield + Unsworth - Besses | 153 | 17 | 170 | 90.0% |
| Radcliffe - West | 130 | 15 | 145 | 89.7% |
| Bury West | 21 | 2 | 23 | 91.3% |
How Bury’s planning approval rate has changed year by year — up 7.7pp since 2018.
Bar height reflects approval rate. Colour: green ≥85%, amber ≥70%, red below 70%.
Real residential planning decisions from Bury council. Each reference links to the council's own planning portal so you can verify the details yourself.
| Reference | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 72874 Prestwich - St Mary's | Lawful development certificate for proposed: Internal alterations and limited ex | Approved |
| 72788 Radcliffe - West | Part single/part two storey rear extension, rear dormer extension and front porc | Approved |
| 72786 Ramsbottom | Two storey extension at side | Approved |
| 72796 Radcliffe - East | Application for permission in principle for erection of 9 no. dwellings | Refused |
| 72780 Prestwich - Holyrood | Raising of roof ridge height with hip to gable roof extension, loft conversion a | Approved |
| 72852 Whitefield + Unsworth - Unsworth | Lawful development certificate for proposed change of use from dwelling (Class C | Refused |
| 72850 Whitefield + Unsworth - Unsworth | Lawful development certificate for proposed single storey rear extension | Approved |
| 72834 Tottington | Lawful development certificate for proposed build of a single storey extension t | Approved |
| 72822 Radcliffe - North and Ainsworth | Lawful development certificate for proposed change of use from dwelling (Class C | Approved |
| 72818 North Manor | Lawful development certificate for proposed single storey garden building | 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 Bury's 4,896 real decisions. Free, emailed in minutes.
Check my postcodeCompare Bury's planning approval rates with neighbouring areas:
Dig deeper into Bury'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 Bury. Enter your postcode to instantly see approval rates for your ward and application type, based on 4,896 real decisions from Bury 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 Bury'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 4,896 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in Bury is 91.2%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 4,896 planning decisions from Bury council. 4,465 were approved and 431 were refused. These figures cover decisions from January 2020 to the present.
The average approval rate in Bury is 91.2%, 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.