Planning decisions in Birmingham

How long Birmingham takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 4,914 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.

58 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 67 from receipt
49%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 74% within thirteen
84%approved (UK 90%): 3,924 approved, 738 refused, 142 withdrawn
336 of 388UK rank for speed, down 213 places on last year; 338 of 388 for approvals
05691 October 2025: 54 days, 380 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 55 days, 368 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 57 days, 505 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 64 days, 379 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 70 days, 377 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 57 days, 441 decisionsMarApril 2026: 58 days, 427 decisionsAprMay 2026: 67 days, 401 decisionsMayJune 2026: 70 days, 378 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 81 days, 432 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 83 days, 365 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 85 days, 461 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
Householder applications5749%89%1,581154 of 200
Full applications10711%72%766348 of 359
Prior approvals3596%79%678158 of 340
Discharge of conditions6838%96%528281 of 310
Lawful development certificates5650%72%406318 of 348
Amendments6939%93%268342 of 356
Advertisement consent8514%89%202310 of 320
Listed building consent1078%81%70295 of 307

Appeals

178 appeals against Birmingham decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 24 for every 100 refusals; 28% were allowed. Every appeal in Birmingham.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5658%90%180
2017 *3787%97%38
2018 *5750%87%219
2019 *1691%97%361
2020 *3190%97%30
2021 *4864%93%28
2022 *9315%87%137
2023 *8422%91%148
2024 *7233%91%166
2025 *9217%85%185
2026 so far7238%84%3,661

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

Decided in the last three weeks

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

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.