Planning decisions in Central Bedfordshire

How long Central Bedfordshire takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,554 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.

55 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 73 from receipt
66%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 87% within thirteen
88%approved (UK 90%): 1,588 approved, 221 refused, 209 withdrawn
234 of 388UK rank for speed, down 45 places on last year; 281 of 388 for approvals
05691 October 2025: 57 days, 168 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 70 days, 160 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 76 days, 171 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 84 days, 235 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 90 days, 162 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 73 days, 221 decisionsMarApril 2026: 71 days, 248 decisionsAprMay 2026: 69 days, 234 decisionsMayJune 2026: 75 days, 247 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 70 days, 254 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 71 days, 219 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 79 days, 235 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 applications5563%85%1,22071 of 359
Discharge of conditions8242%100%489299 of 310
Lawful development certificates4585%92%28488 of 348
Amendments5170%93%209224 of 356
Prior approvals3992%86%125205 of 340
Listed building consent6041%96%95164 of 307
Advertisement consent5477%100%35131 of 320
Outline applications *5357%29%2229 of 110
Reserved matters *1970%100%1643 of 44

Appeals

123 appeals against Central Bedfordshire decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 56 for every 100 refusals; 31% were allowed. Every appeal in Central Bedfordshire.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5651%97%64
2017 *6040%99%80
2018 *5650%87%122
2019 *6842%84%105
2020 *7027%96%105
2021 *7712%94%138
2022 *6343%88%101
2023 *7715%100%42
2024 *6543%89%99
2025 *7235%74%36
2026 so far7524%87%2,055

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

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.