Planning decisions in Arun

How long Arun takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,643 decisions it made in the twelve months to September 2026. Days run from validation to decision, the clock the council reports against; the wait from receipt is shown beside it. How the figures are made.

52 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 56 from receipt
80%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 94% within thirteen
87%approved (UK 90%): 1,251 approved, 190 refused, 130 withdrawn
140 of 388UK rank for speed, up 23 places on last year; 302 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 52 days, 158 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 56 days, 121 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 55 days, 144 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 56 days, 157 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 56 days, 113 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 53 days, 147 decisionsMarApril 2026: 57 days, 143 decisionsAprMay 2026: 53 days, 127 decisionsMayJune 2026: 53 days, 119 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 57 days, 138 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 58 days, 163 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 57 days, 113 decisionsSept
Median days from validation to decision, by month of decision. Dashed line: UK median (54 days). Grid at 56 and 91 days, the eight and thirteen week targets.

By kind of application

KindMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisionsUK rank
Discharge of conditions5071%83%320118 of 310
Tree works4496%93%214229 of 324
Amendments2390%84%12011 of 356
Lawful development certificates5188%94%110150 of 348
Listed building consent5482%91%5036 of 307
Prior approvals *5275%70%26327 of 340
Advertisement consent *5388%81%18102 of 320

Appeals

49 appeals against Arun decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 26 for every 100 refusals; 22% were allowed. Every appeal in Arun.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *6127%88%52
2017 *899%83%63
2018 *4168%90%82
2019 *3965%97%95
2020 *5652%87%186
2021 *6237%90%64
2022 *2885%87%130
2023 *5939%95%64
2024 *5840%100%30
2025 *5747%66%39
2026 so far5652%87%1,220

* Years from our archive, which carries no validation date: timed from receipt, so a few days longer than the live years above them.

Past their target date now

Decided in the last three weeks

Built nightly from Arun's planning register. Ranks are among the 388 published councils. See planning applications in Arun, appeals, or get alerts for Arun.

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.