Planning decisions in Bexley

How long Bexley takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,074 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.

56 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 56 from receipt
81%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 91% within thirteen
89%approved (UK 90%): 1,746 approved, 217 refused, 34 withdrawn
267 of 388UK rank for speed, down 80 places on last year; 259 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 54 days, 138 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 56 days, 169 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 56 days, 194 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 56 days, 175 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 55 days, 113 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 56 days, 196 decisionsMarApril 2026: 56 days, 174 decisionsAprMay 2026: 58 days, 170 decisionsMayJune 2026: 56 days, 179 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 56 days, 216 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 56 days, 146 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 56 days, 204 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
Full applications5679%90%1,10289 of 359
Lawful development certificates5696%84%296262 of 348
Prior approvals4195%84%191242 of 340
Discharge of conditions5663%95%180218 of 310
Tree works5660%89%149298 of 324
Amendments4676%92%117169 of 356
Advertisement consent *5691%95%22189 of 320

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers99%5689%2,051
Planning committee1%15786%22

Where the register states how the decision was made. 1 decisions did not say.

Appeals

63 appeals against Bexley decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 29 for every 100 refusals; 21% were allowed. Every appeal in Bexley.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *7535%95%88
2017 *6347%93%59
2018 *2799%99%195
2019 *26100%96%69
2020 *2797%58%36
2021 *2894%80%35
2022 *2895%94%66
2023 *5655%95%41
2024 *5652%90%87
2025 *5652%96%25
2026 so far5656%89%1,573

* 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 Bexley's planning register. Ranks are among the 388 published councils. See planning applications in Bexley, appeals, or get alerts for Bexley.

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.