How long planning decisions take, council by council

Every council we monitor, ranked by how quickly it decides planning applications and how many it approves, from the decisions made in the twelve months to August 2026. Days run from validation to decision, the clock councils report against; each council's page also shows the wait from receipt. Councils whose register data fails our checks are listed at the foot with the reason. How the figures are made.

52 daysmedian from validation to decision, 55 from receipt

73%decided within eight weeks

89%approved

235,590decisions in the twelve months to August 2026

321 councils published, fastest first.

#	Council	Median days	Within 8 weeks	Approved	Decisions	Change
1	Blackburn	23	91%	97%	39	↑ 114
2	Fareham	29	93%	98%	313	↑ 2
3	Monmouthshire	30	64%	96%	453	↑ 8
4	New Forest Park	31	84%	96%	699	↑ 9
5	Redbridge	31	85%	81%	1,921	↑ 15
6	Wolverhampton	34	79%	91%	534	↑ 10
7	Cheltenham	34	69%	97%	979	↑ 5
8	Torfaen	35	61%	93%	204	↑ 166
9	East Renfrewshire	35	69%	93%	361	↑ 271
10	Camden	37	73%	92%	211	↑ 45
11	Broads	37	71%	98%	127	↑ 18
12	Newark And Sherwood	37	66%	95%	869	↑ 104
13	Fermanagh And Omagh	37	67%	99%	360	↑ 295
14	Birmingham	38	75%	87%	498	↑ 315
15	Rushmoor	39	74%	95%	308	↑ 3
16	Cardiff	39	69%	96%	1,045	↑ 228
17	Sedgemoor	40	95%	95%	214	↓ 12
18	North Ayrshire	40	61%	97%	297	↑ 15
19	Lincoln	41	79%	93%	351	↑ 9
20	Durham	41	74%	91%	1,257	↑ 222
21	South Somerset	41	68%	95%	1,031	↑ 14
22	Darlington	41	63%	97%	480	↓ 1
23	Dorset	41	77%	91%	3,160	↓ 15
24	Fife	41	64%	95%	1,674	↑ 95
25	Dumfries	41	68%	93%	829	↓ 3
26	Stockport	42	79%	94%	1,350	↓ 17
27	South Ribble	42	70%	97%	454	↓ 2
28	Richmond Upon Thames	42	83%	90%	2,089	–
29	West Oxfordshire	42	58%	96%	1,087	↑ 33
30	Worcester	42	74%	95%	367	↑ 9
31	Cotswold	42	66%	95%	1,535	↑ 11
32	North Lanarkshire	42	59%	97%	451	↑ 45
33	Castle Point	43	64%	88%	315	↓ 26
34	Bury	43	65%	87%	611	↑ 202
35	Wandsworth	43	54%	90%	1,507	↑ 251
36	East Lothian	43	59%	97%	528	↑ 174
37	North Hertfordshire	43	81%	93%	1,025	↓ 10
38	Bolsover	43	54%	96%	200	↑ 19
39	South Norfolk Broadland	43	64%	94%	1,503	↑ 19
40	Redditch	43	60%	92%	157	–
41	Sunderland	44	68%	90%	577	↑ 68
42	Wokingham	44	93%	93%	267	↑ 69
43	Canterbury	44	78%	98%	908	↑ 57
44	Merthyr Tydfil	44	75%	93%	137	↓ 12
45	Westminster	44	64%	89%	3,005	↓ 42
46	Swindon	45	82%	94%	786	↑ 35
47	Tendring	45	64%	89%	946	level
48	Babergh Mid Suffolk	45	64%	90%	1,861	↑ 26
49	Stratford On Avon	45	65%	94%	734	↑ 89
50	North Norfolk	45	58%	96%	942	↓ 16
51	East Devon	45	74%	92%	1,121	↑ 35
52	Enfield	46	62%	80%	1,828	↑ 19
53	Broxtowe	46	58%	95%	403	↑ 25
54	Lancaster	46	70%	85%	717	↑ 51
55	Craven	46	64%	86%	353	↑ 11
56	Shropshire	46	80%	92%	1,749	↓ 46
57	Melton	46	58%	95%	264	↑ 254
58	Telford	47	96%	97%	232	↑ 54
59	Lichfield	47	55%	80%	444	↑ 128
60	Basingstoke	47	71%	95%	769	↑ 99
61	West Devon	47	81%	80%	375	–
62	Stroud	47	80%	88%	919	↑ 52
63	Forest Of Dean	47	58%	95%	444	↑ 138
64	Wyre Forest	47	63%	95%	465	↓ 8
65	Haringey	47	73%	93%	1,489	↑ 60
66	Exeter	47	73%	86%	574	↑ 23
67	Islington	47	71%	93%	1,176	↑ 260
68	Carmarthenshire	47	55%	84%	559	↑ 100
69	South Cambridgeshire	48	87%	95%	1,176	↓ 2
70	Dacorum	48	74%	87%	1,065	↓ 21
71	Hounslow	48	67%	85%	1,480	↑ 87
72	Wealden	48	82%	87%	740	↑ 88
73	Northumberland County	48	72%	88%	2,141	–
74	Uttlesford	48	65%	77%	1,239	↓ 68
75	Bristol	48	79%	86%	2,460	↓ 52
76	Southwark	48	68%	95%	1,541	↓ 35
77	Doncaster	48	55%	88%	996	↓ 18
78	Neath	48	52%	97%	301	↑ 86
79	Clackmannanshire	48	60%	96%	106	↑ 112
80	Aberdeen	48	66%	94%	598	↑ 10
81	Watford	49	69%	79%	459	↑ 11
82	Cambridge	49	88%	93%	923	↑ 19
83	Pendle	49	67%	88%	394	↑ 30
84	Gosport	49	66%	96%	176	↓ 11
85	Erewash	49	68%	92%	263	↓ 6
86	Cannock Chase	49	85%	91%	202	↑ 16
87	Tunbridge Wells	49	65%	94%	1,139	↑ 125
88	Plymouth	49	56%	94%	798	↓ 3
89	Burnley	49	51%	76%	69	↑ 166
90	Test Valley	49	69%	92%	914	↑ 17
91	Rotherham	49	93%	85%	341	↓ 15
92	Harlow	49	74%	92%	262	↓ 68
93	South Hams	49	78%	88%	921	–
94	Wychavon	49	70%	85%	1,059	↑ 99
95	Lake District	49	70%	87%	682	↑ 121
96	Mendip	49	63%	87%	860	↑ 79
97	Falkirk	49	58%	98%	239	↑ 160
98	Lewes	49	45%	92%	272	↑ 181
99	Renfrewshire	49	59%	98%	349	↑ 182
100	Wiltshire	49	71%	95%	3,099	↓ 31
101	Shetlands	49	53%	100%	197	↓ 53
102	Argyll	49	48%	97%	829	↑ 170
103	Rugby	49	56%	93%	383	↑ 162
104	Blackpool	50	54%	82%	177	↑ 14
105	East Riding	50	54%	91%	1,518	↑ 66
106	North Tyneside	50	72%	91%	740	↓ 23
107	Teignbridge	50	88%	84%	760	↑ 79
108	Three Rivers	50	59%	90%	859	↓ 40
109	Barnet	50	73%	79%	2,659	↓ 95
110	Leeds	50	83%	82%	3,537	↓ 60
111	North Devon	50	70%	96%	201	↑ 208
112	Norwich	50	64%	94%	525	↓ 97
113	Tameside	50	62%	87%	519	↓ 10
114	West Lindsey	50	62%	93%	442	↑ 58
115	Mid Sussex	50	62%	93%	1,055	↓ 28
116	Oxford	50	61%	92%	1,251	↑ 62
117	South Gloucestershire	50	64%	87%	1,044	↑ 38
118	Newport	50	49%	81%	446	↑ 155
119	Adur	50	57%	95%	284	–
120	Brecon Beacons	50	63%	91%	197	↑ 185
121	Barnsley	51	68%	97%	73	↑ 201
122	Chichester	51	50%	90%	915	↑ 104
123	Rutland	51	71%	89%	549	↓ 72
124	Epsom And Ewell	51	82%	88%	636	↓ 87
125	Oadby And Wigston	51	37%	69%	199	↑ 151
126	Manchester	51	62%	92%	609	↓ 32
127	Croydon	51	63%	80%	1,610	↑ 13
128	Harrogate	51	62%	90%	1,184	↓ 56
129	Torridge	51	54%	95%	450	↑ 70
130	Flintshire	51	77%	89%	473	↑ 54
131	East Cambridgeshire	51	62%	95%	678	↓ 27
132	Hambleton	51	55%	91%	309	↑ 103
133	North York Moors	51	52%	98%	287	↑ 30
134	Newcastle Under Lyme	51	76%	94%	486	↓ 38
135	Gloucester	51	52%	79%	358	↑ 44
136	East Suffolk	51	74%	95%	1,439	↑ 85
137	North East Lincs	51	73%	96%	348	↓ 106
138	New Forest District	51	73%	88%	536	↑ 70
139	Nottingham	51	54%	95%	844	↑ 121
140	Herefordshire	51	52%	94%	661	↑ 137
141	Yorkshire Dales	51	68%	97%	261	↑ 123
142	Pembroke Coast	51	69%	89%	303	↑ 121
143	Chester	51	56%	94%	1,370	↑ 178
144	Wrexham	51	56%	95%	235	↑ 181
145	South Ayrshire	51	55%	98%	330	↑ 40
146	West Dunbartonshire	51	49%	97%	71	↑ 122
147	South Holland	51	66%	83%	420	↑ 15
148	Perth	51	42%	90%	691	↑ 93
149	Scottish Borders	51	52%	93%	549	↓ 58
150	Stevenage	52	79%	91%	258	↓ 120
151	Peak District	52	57%	84%	433	↓ 71
152	Edinburgh	52	55%	86%	2,736	↓ 116
153	Dover	52	59%	91%	687	↑ 50
154	Cornwall	52	81%	94%	3,592	↓ 91
155	Surrey Heath	52	71%	88%	702	↓ 58
156	Old Oak Park Royal	52	79%	96%	60	↓ 104
157	Sevenoaks	52	49%	89%	1,531	↓ 11
158	Derbyshire Dales	52	63%	90%	470	↓ 17
159	Windsor And Maidenhead	52	77%	79%	1,407	–
160	North Kesteven	52	48%	98%	671	↑ 21
161	Gravesham	52	57%	80%	572	↓ 32
162	Caerphilly	52	60%	76%	398	↓ 78
163	Dudley	52	74%	84%	550	↓ 35
164	St Helens	52	47%	95%	408	↓ 33
165	Swansea	52	50%	85%	835	↑ 2
166	Peterborough	52	71%	89%	719	↓ 84
167	Halton	52	67%	97%	205	↓ 150
168	Arun	52	63%	89%	715	↓ 33
169	Chesterfield	52	44%	86%	335	↑ 83
170	Tandridge	52	68%	86%	504	↓ 49
171	Hastings	52	48%	81%	312	↑ 35
172	Solihull	52	55%	89%	942	↑ 50
173	Dundee	52	48%	97%	391	↑ 40
174	East Ayrshire	52	36%	95%	317	↑ 113
175	Harborough	53	66%	92%	760	↓ 41
176	Pembrokeshire	53	89%	74%	418	↑ 91
177	Medway	53	66%	90%	898	↓ 82
178	Kings Lynn	53	57%	89%	1,103	↓ 132
179	Chelmsford	53	79%	84%	1,132	↓ 135
180	Hart	53	75%	91%	802	↑ 20
181	York	53	73%	89%	1,128	↑ 80
182	Ealing	53	67%	86%	2,303	↓ 74
183	Sheffield	53	58%	88%	1,590	↓ 77
184	Sefton	53	71%	91%	801	↓ 123
185	Tewkesbury	53	50%	88%	528	↑ 118
186	Hull	53	58%	93%	367	↑ 89
187	Stirling	53	46%	99%	353	↑ 101
188	South Downs	53	55%	93%	1,525	↑ 37
189	Knowsley	53	66%	98%	236	↓ 47
190	Middlesbrough	53	66%	82%	240	↑ 56
191	Basildon	53	53%	90%	631	↓ 74
192	Bedford	53	55%	82%	835	↓ 166
193	Highland	53	33%	97%	1,167	↑ 122
194	Isle Of Wight	54	51%	92%	844	↑ 8
195	Lewisham	54	55%	87%	1,418	↑ 9
196	Mid Devon	54	82%	93%	512	↓ 103
197	Dartford	54	59%	79%	592	↑ 50
198	Charnwood	54	66%	93%	692	–
199	Sandwell	54	38%	85%	710	↓ 10
200	Swale	54	74%	93%	547	–
201	Trafford	54	45%	84%	1,210	↓ 52
202	Epping Forest	54	64%	77%	1,351	↓ 51
203	Fenland	54	33%	86%	492	↑ 125
204	Selby	54	49%	77%	340	↑ 89
205	Newham	54	72%	84%	1,138	↓ 141
206	North East Derbyshire	54	50%	88%	322	↑ 84
207	Southampton	54	70%	92%	660	↓ 109
208	West Suffolk	54	57%	95%	1,117	↑ 1
209	North Somerset	54	56%	93%	1,081	↓ 11
210	Bromsgrove	54	51%	94%	426	–
211	Gedling	54	51%	94%	331	↑ 12
212	Carlisle	54	49%	94%	453	↓ 16
213	West Somerset	54	52%	87%	130	↑ 36
214	South Kesteven	54	54%	92%	844	↓ 7
215	West Lothian	54	30%	79%	386	↑ 47
216	West Lancashire	54	51%	86%	516	↑ 42
217	Ebbsfleet	54	50%	100%	49	–
218	North West Leicestershire	54	46%	94%	549	↓ 3
219	Malvern Hills	55	50%	74%	44	↓ 1
220	Sutton	55	48%	85%	917	↓ 155
221	Kingston Upon Thames	55	49%	85%	1,145	–
222	Copeland	55	83%	97%	129	↓ 45
223	Exmoor	55	77%	95%	79	↓ 18
224	Chorley	55	57%	88%	534	↓ 92
225	Stockton On Tees	55	49%	97%	567	↓ 64
226	Thurrock	55	56%	86%	632	↓ 61
227	Spelthorne	55	56%	85%	505	↓ 128
228	Kirklees	55	45%	86%	752	↑ 20
229	Milton Keynes	55	43%	84%	973	↑ 56
230	Welwyn Hatfield	55	51%	90%	1,377	↓ 33
231	Hertsmere	55	53%	84%	730	↓ 51
232	Bolton	55	56%	77%	869	↓ 50
233	Worthing	55	50%	90%	399	–
234	Warwick	55	45%	93%	680	↑ 19
235	Mansfield	55	50%	95%	252	↓ 15
236	West Berkshire	55	46%	91%	1,045	↓ 82
237	Rochdale	55	44%	91%	483	↑ 57
238	South Staffordshire	55	49%	85%	493	↓ 24
239	Hillingdon	55	54%	89%	1,406	↓ 91
240	Torbay	55	63%	80%	423	↓ 10
241	Slough	55	60%	77%	599	↑ 10
242	Portsmouth	55	42%	84%	462	↑ 57
243	Wakefield	55	45%	89%	734	↑ 57
244	Walsall	55	60%	77%	145	↓ 101
245	Guildford	55	48%	87%	1,053	↑ 44
246	Wigan	55	26%	86%	637	↑ 74
247	St Albans	55	49%	88%	1,005	↓ 59
248	Snowdonia	55	56%	89%	82	↑ 50
249	Hammersmith And Fulham	55	31%	96%	611	↑ 74
250	Bexley	56	58%	89%	1,036	↓ 128
251	Brent	56	47%	75%	1,617	↓ 118
252	Maldon	56	31%	85%	446	↓ 62
253	Reigate	56	77%	90%	1,083	↓ 133
254	Bromley	56	48%	78%	1,922	↑ 5
255	Staffordshire Moorlands	56	42%	65%	91	↑ 58
256	Northumberland Park	56	72%	88%	28	↓ 213
257	Greenwich	56	60%	83%	1,405	↓ 118
258	Maidstone	56	71%	88%	1,008	–
259	Southend	56	51%	85%	740	↓ 31
260	Calderdale	56	30%	86%	595	↑ 11
261	Bradford	56	69%	84%	1,779	↓ 135
262	Luton	56	30%	78%	589	↑ 48
263	Lambeth	56	58%	83%	1,569	↓ 87
264	Tower Hamlets	56	67%	91%	894	↓ 134
265	Thanet	56	38%	93%	329	↑ 30
266	Brighton And Hove	56	45%	94%	781	–
267	Horsham	56	66%	92%	1,076	↓ 1
268	East Hertfordshire	56	36%	78%	1,012	↓ 37
269	Winchester	56	55%	97%	821	↓ 117
270	Buckinghamshire	56	62%	80%	2,329	↓ 268
271	Huntingdonshire	56	47%	91%	987	↓ 33
272	Broxbourne	56	36%	87%	357	↓ 127
273	Rushcliffe	56	36%	87%	587	↓ 3
274	Reading	56	43%	86%	596	↑ 9
275	Mole Valley	56	28%	81%	649	↓ 41
276	Derby	56	58%	89%	704	↓ 103
277	Elmbridge	56	37%	70%	492	↓ 53
278	Woking	56	56%	87%	575	↓ 151
279	Salford	56	37%	83%	550	↓ 156
280	East Staffordshire	56	35%	87%	545	↑ 37
281	East Lindsey	56	23%	93%	628	↓ 49
282	Brentwood	56	55%	88%	583	↓ 55
283	Scarborough	56	35%	86%	250	↑ 49
284	Aberdeenshire	56	38%	97%	836	↓ 45
285	Blaby	56	42%	96%	356	↓ 68
286	Powys	56	43%	82%	393	↑ 16
287	South Oxfordshire	56	55%	97%	368	↓ 217
288	Oldham	56	37%	94%	572	↑ 36
289	Rossendale	56	41%	91%	202	↑ 8
290	Fylde	56	49%	94%	184	↓ 53
291	City Of London	56	48%	over 99%	647	–
292	North Northamptonshire	56	38%	90%	1,014	–
293	Angus	56	35%	97%	265	↓ 19
294	Hinckley And Bosworth	56	52%	91%	428	↓ 99
295	Midlothian	56	38%	93%	254	↓ 129
296	Tonbridge	56	38%	95%	845	↓ 56
297	Havant	56	35%	90%	234	↑ 21
298	Gateshead	56	36%	91%	365	↑ 8
299	Bassetlaw	56	34%	79%	515	↑ 2
300	South Lanarkshire	57	38%	94%	551	↓ 55
301	Ards And North Down	57	42%	95%	272	↑ 38
302	Antrim And Newtownabbey	58	45%	96%	235	↑ 29
303	Ryedale	58	19%	95%	194	↓ 25
304	Stafford	59	25%	79%	331	↑ 34
305	Mid East Antrim	59	40%	95%	279	↓ 245
306	East Dunbartonshire	59	22%	98%	282	↓ 10
307	Bracknell Forest	60	33%	90%	414	–
308	Wyre	61	30%	87%	364	↑ 18
309	Derry And Strabane	62	40%	99%	143	↑ 34
310	Vale Of White Horse	63	32%	96%	203	↓ 163
311	Causeway And Glens	64	37%	96%	233	↑ 31
312	Glasgow	64	18%	88%	911	↑ 21
313	Orkney	66	13%	97%	131	↑ 17
314	Loch Lomond	69	30%	97%	116	↑ 21
315	Mid Ulster	71	32%	98%	314	↑ 21
316	Moray	72	30%	99%	271	↑ 18
317	Lisburn And Castlereagh	75	23%	99%	199	↑ 27
318	Armagh Banbridge Craigavon	75	18%	98%	245	↑ 23
319	Kensington And Chelsea	87	36%	96%	3,170	–
320	Newry Mourne Down	89	19%	93%	99	↑ 25
321	North Warwickshire	91	18%	98%	265	↓ 78

Not published: 10 councils

These registers report decisions in a way our checks cannot reconcile, so a figure would mislead. Each is re-tested nightly and returns to the table when its data does.

Belfast live-divergence: 2026 runs 2.4% vs archive 7.6%
Great Yarmouth live-divergence: 2026 runs 11.5% vs archive 0.8%
Havering collapse: 8 of 9 years under 1% vs 8.4% in 2016; 2026 runs 21.8%
High Peak collapse: 2021-2024 under 1% vs best year 13.6%; 2026 runs 18.5%
Hyndburn collapse: 2016 under 1% vs best year 15.5%
Inverclyde live-divergence: 2026 runs 0.0% vs archive 5.3%
Leicester live-divergence: 2026 runs 98.4% vs archive 13.2% (live-side mapping fault)
Rhondda live-divergence: 2026 runs 2.3% vs archive 9.9%
Richmondshire live-divergence: 2026 runs 10.9% vs archive 3.6%
Western Isles collapse: 2018 under 1% vs best year 4.5%

Change is the movement in the speed ranking against the twelve months before; a dash means the council had too few decisions then to rank. Ranks are among published councils only: 25 timed decisions in the window for the all-applications table, 10 for a single kind, where a * marks a council under 25. See also planning appeals.

About these figures

How are decision times measured?

Days from the date the council validated the application to the date it decided it, for applications approved or refused in the window. That is the clock councils report against and the official statistics use. Each council’s page also shows the count from receipt, which is what the applicant actually waited. Withdrawn and undecided applications are not timed.

Why do these figures differ from the council’s own?

Councils count an agreed extension of time as decided on time; we treat the calendar as the calendar. Our figures are also live and rolling, where official statistics are quarterly and annual. So a council’s own within-eight-weeks figure will usually sit a little above ours.

What counts as approved?

Approval rate is approvals divided by approvals plus refusals. Withdrawals, and decisions whose outcome the register does not state, are counted in the totals but not in the rate.

Why is a council missing?

A council is published when it has at least 25 timed decisions in the window and its register’s decision data passes our consistency checks. Councils that fail are listed with the reason rather than shown with a number that would mislead.

How often is this updated?

Nightly, from the decisions we collect from every council register we monitor. The window is the twelve months to the last complete month.