Planning decisions in Chelmsford

How long Chelmsford takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,216 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.

53 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 53 from receipt
75%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 94% within thirteen
87%approved (UK 90%): 1,832 approved, 271 refused, 33 withdrawn
167 of 388UK rank for speed, up 3 places on last year; 297 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 49 days, 199 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 51 days, 153 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 49 days, 212 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 53 days, 145 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 52 days, 160 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 52 days, 233 decisionsMarApril 2026: 55 days, 166 decisionsAprMay 2026: 55 days, 183 decisionsMayJune 2026: 53 days, 191 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 55 days, 172 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 53 days, 195 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 55 days, 207 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 works4197%92%327180 of 324
Amendments3579%91%11488 of 356
Advertisement consent5568%85%49166 of 320
Listed building consent5562%93%3167 of 307
Lawful development certificates5660%87%30300 of 348
Prior approvals *5283%56%20326 of 340

Appeals

70 appeals against Chelmsford decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 26 for every 100 refusals; 33% were allowed. Every appeal in Chelmsford.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5576%96%84
2017 *2778%90%44
2018 *2881%88%202
2019 *5376%97%72
2020 *5660%89%73
2021 *5469%92%26
2022 *5476%76%54
2023 *2579%93%29
2024 *5376%99%69
2025 *25100%97%31
2026 so far5473%86%1,652

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

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.