Planning decisions in Bristol

How long Bristol takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,996 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.

41 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 46 from receipt
83%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 95% within thirteen
87%approved (UK 90%): 2,232 approved, 322 refused, 69 withdrawn
14 of 388UK rank for speed, up 9 places on last year; 290 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 45 days, 466 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 48 days, 387 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 44 days, 334 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 21 days, 42 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 29 days, 192 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 41 days, 360 decisionsMarApril 2026: 46 days, 365 decisionsAprMay 2026: 51 days, 384 decisionsMayJune 2026: 53 days, 399 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 49 days, 386 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 49 days, 462 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 50 days, 406 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
Tree works24over 99%99%75434 of 324
Householder applications5372%86%50755 of 200
Lawful development certificates2896%85%42224 of 348
Full applications5651%76%372161 of 359
Listed building consent4779%87%1937 of 307
Amendments3183%86%17064 of 356
Advertisement consent5476%75%104122 of 320
Prior approvals4296%80%99266 of 340

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officersover 99%4187%2,696
Planning committeeunder 1%72100%3

Where the register states how the decision was made. 297 decisions did not say.

Appeals

132 appeals against Bristol decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 41 for every 100 refusals; 24% were allowed. Every appeal in Bristol.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5656%90%220
2017 *52100%20%30
2018 *6143%89%360
2019 *6639%91%320
2020 *5497%23%40
2021 *7026%90%111
2022 *1091%91%167
2023 *8935%79%224
2024 *5557%79%374
2025 *6534%74%140
2026 so far4665%87%2,996

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

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.