Bury Council approves 90.3% of planning applications, based on 4,302 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 85.0%. Bury sits 5.3 percentage points above the national average.
According to PlanningLens analysis of 751 decided applications, Bury Council approved 90.4% of planning applications in 2025. Across 4,302 decisions on record (March 2006 to September 2026), the overall approval rate in Bury is 90.3%; the national average across UK councils tracked by PlanningLens is 85.0%.
Source: PlanningLens (planninglens.co.uk) analysis of Bury council planning portal records · Data to 29 September 2026 · Quote freely with attribution
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 | 3,349 | 256 | 3,605 | 92.9% |
| Other | 1,308 | 197 | 1,505 | 86.9% |
| Certificate of Lawfulness | 543 | 73 | 616 | 88.1% |
| Advertisement | 145 | 44 | 189 | 76.7% |
| Discharge of Conditions | 184 | 4 | 188 | 97.9% |
| Listed Building | 28 | 5 | 33 | 84.8% |
| Prior Approval | 25 | 5 | 30 | 83.3% |
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 | 516 | 90 | 606 | 85.1% |
| North Manor | 487 | 52 | 539 | 90.4% |
| Ramsbottom | 450 | 55 | 505 | 89.1% |
| Bury East | 396 | 69 | 465 | 85.2% |
| Whitefield + Unsworth - Pilkington Park | 390 | 23 | 413 | 94.4% |
| Prestwich - Holyrood | 322 | 33 | 355 | 90.7% |
| Bury East - Redvales | 301 | 42 | 343 | 87.8% |
| Prestwich - St Mary's | 312 | 28 | 340 | 91.8% |
| Whitefield + Unsworth - Unsworth | 307 | 21 | 328 | 93.6% |
| Tottington | 268 | 14 | 282 | 95.0% |
| Radcliffe - North and Ainsworth | 246 | 24 | 270 | 91.1% |
| Bury West - Elton | 249 | 15 | 264 | 94.3% |
| Radcliffe - East | 234 | 28 | 262 | 89.3% |
| Bury West - Church | 237 | 14 | 251 | 94.4% |
| Bury East - Moorside | 209 | 20 | 229 | 91.3% |
| Whitefield + Unsworth - Besses | 187 | 19 | 206 | 90.8% |
| Radcliffe - West | 162 | 20 | 182 | 89.0% |
| Bury West | 68 | 6 | 74 | 91.9% |
How Bury’s planning approval rate has changed year by year, down 0.2pp 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 73635 Radcliffe - West | Lawful Development Certificate for proposed single storey rear extension | Approved |
| 73573 Whitefield + Unsworth - Besses | Single storey side and rear extension | Approved |
| 73559 Not Available | Application to discharge condition 5 (boundary wall details) of planning permiss | Approved |
| 73549 Whitefield + Unsworth - Pilkington Park | Single storey side extension | Approved |
| 73547 Radcliffe - East | Garage conversion | Approved |
| 73546 Bury West | 2 no. single storey rear extensions; Garage conversion with increase in roof hei | Approved |
| 73540 Prestwich - Sedgley | Raising of roof ridge height with front and rear dormers to form second floors a | Approved |
| 73534 Prestwich - Holyrood | Lawful Development Certificate for proposed single storey side extension | Approved |
| 73532 Prestwich - St Mary's | Demolition of existing front porch/rear bay windows; Single storey front/ side e | Refused |
| 73524 Tottington | Single storey front extension and erection of canopy at front | 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 4,302 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 4,302 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 4,302 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in Bury is 90.3%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 85.0%. Rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 4,302 planning decisions from Bury council. 3,885 were approved and 417 were refused. These figures cover every decision on record for the council, March 2006 to September 2026.
The average approval rate in Bury is 90.3%, 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.
Writing about planning in Bury? These figures are free to republish with attribution. Copy the one-line citation, or paste the stat box into any website, CMS or newsletter, it carries its own styling and links back to this page for verification.