Planning decisions in Coventry

How long Coventry takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,113 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.

51 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 54 from receipt
87%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 93% within thirteen
83%approved (UK 90%): 1,681 approved, 337 refused, 79 withdrawn
121 of 388UK rank for speed, up 57 places on last year; 353 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 53 days, 209 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 53 days, 163 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 50 days, 166 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 55 days, 179 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 54 days, 139 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 54 days, 147 decisionsMarApril 2026: 55 days, 185 decisionsAprMay 2026: 53 days, 173 decisionsMayJune 2026: 55 days, 173 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 53 days, 240 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 54 days, 169 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 52 days, 170 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 applications5193%92%56730 of 200
Full applications5580%71%38653 of 359
Discharge of conditions5366%92%295162 of 310
Lawful development certificates5098%80%273133 of 348
Tree works3797%91%194131 of 324
Amendments4884%86%143186 of 356
Prior approvals3596%61%141156 of 340
Advertisement consent5295%77%6984 of 320
Listed building consent *5585%85%2348 of 307
Outline applications *11640%60%1198 of 110

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers99%5183%2,079
Planning committee1%13388%27

Where the register states how the decision was made. 7 decisions did not say.

Appeals

75 appeals against Coventry decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 22 for every 100 refusals; 36% were allowed. Every appeal in Coventry.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5652%100%27
2017 *7828%93%37
2018 *6139%69%140
2019 *3162%81%44
2020 *3184%87%116
2021 *6149%96%64
2022 *6635%93%47
2023 *5274%94%149
20255266%84%813
2026 so far5464%84%1,575

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

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.