Planning decisions in Dorset

How long Dorset takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 5,973 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.

40 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 41 from receipt
80%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 92% within thirteen
92%approved (UK 90%): 5,102 approved, 454 refused, 253 withdrawn
12 of 388UK rank for speed, down 5 places on last year; 186 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 36 days, 596 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 36 days, 446 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 36 days, 490 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 48 days, 443 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 37 days, 463 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 43 days, 523 decisionsMarApril 2026: 49 days, 523 decisionsAprMay 2026: 44 days, 406 decisionsMayJune 2026: 42 days, 536 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 39 days, 571 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 40 days, 423 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 41 days, 553 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 works2699%95%2,47440 of 324
Householder applications5476%95%1,13868 of 200
Full applications6644%86%666235 of 359
Amendments4771%90%495177 of 356
Listed building consent5560%95%47668 of 307
Lawful development certificates5170%80%288163 of 348
Prior approvals3395%78%246129 of 340
Advertisement consent5560%92%62173 of 320
Outline applications7336%60%3260 of 110
Section 106 and planning obligations *13921%86%1729 of 29
Other *3187%87%169 of 35

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers99%4092%5,757
Planning committee1%13285%59

Where the register states how the decision was made. 157 decisions did not say.

Appeals

137 appeals against Dorset decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 30 for every 100 refusals; 30% were allowed. Every appeal in Dorset.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5948%92%529
2017 *4171%90%418
2018 *5654%96%97
2019 *7626%95%79
2020 *9415%91%60
2021 *1217%100%60
2022 *6341%95%68
2023 *5655%98%49
2024 *4977%93%71
2025 *5375%92%70
2026 so far4374%91%4,441

* Years from our archive, which carries no validation date: timed from receipt, so a few days longer than the live years above them.

Decided in the last three weeks

Built nightly from Dorset's planning register. Ranks are among the 388 published councils. See planning applications in Dorset, appeals, or get alerts for Dorset.

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.