Planning decisions in Brighton And Hove

How long Brighton And Hove takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 781 decisions it made in the twelve months to August 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 52); 62 from receipt
66%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 87% within thirteen
94%approved (UK 89%): 685 approved, 42 refused, 29 withdrawn
266 of 321UK rank for speed; 96 of 321 for approvals
05691 January 2026: 21 days, 11 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 36 days, 46 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 56 days, 154 decisionsMarApril 2026: 61 days, 184 decisionsAprMay 2026: 71 days, 142 decisionsMayJune 2026: 103 days, 58 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 85 days, 90 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 61 days, 96 decisionsAug
Median days from validation to decision, by month of decision. Dashed line: UK median (52 days). Grid at 56 and 91 days, the eight and thirteen week targets.

By kind of application

KindMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisionsUK rank
Tree works2993%98%13060 of 259
Lawful development certificates5667%98%80209 of 253
Discharge of conditions6639%98%49170 of 175
Prior approvals *5686%79%29162 of 168
Full applications (including householder)5668%100%26177 of 302
Amendments *3972%94%19148 of 263
Advertisement consent *7131%81%17181 of 190

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers97%56100%33
Planning committee3%189100%1

Where the register states how the decision was made. 747 decisions did not say.

Appeals

72 appeals against Brighton And Hove decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 171 for every 100 refusals; 28% were allowed. Every appeal in Brighton And Hove.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2026 so far6245%94%781

Past their target date now

Decided in the last three weeks

Built nightly from Brighton And Hove's planning register. Ranks are among the 321 published councils. See planning applications in Brighton And Hove, appeals, or get alerts for Brighton And Hove.

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.