Planning decisions in East Devon

How long East Devon takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,121 decisions it made in the twelve months to August 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.

45 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 45 from receipt
74%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 91% within thirteen
92%approved (UK 89%): 843 approved, 78 refused, 27 withdrawn
51 of 321UK rank for speed, up 35 places on last year; 152 of 321 for approvals
056 September 2025: 56 days, 252 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 54 days, 232 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 56 days, 182 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 47 days, 155 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 9 days, 15 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 31 days, 75 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 40 days, 154 decisionsMarApril 2026: 42 days, 191 decisionsAprMay 2026: 49 days, 159 decisionsMayJune 2026: 45 days, 182 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 55 days, 173 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 53 days, 172 decisionsAug
Median days from validation to decision, by month of decision. Dashed line: UK median (52 days). Grid at 56 and 91 days, the eight and thirteen week targets.

By kind of application

KindMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisionsUK rank
Full applications (including householder)4971%94%44621 of 302
Discharge of conditions2188%96%1971 of 175
Tree works4387%87%138186 of 259
Amendments5561%100%89232 of 263
Listed building consent6241%96%74157 of 200
Lawful development certificates4085%79%5447 of 253
Prior approvals *5575%54%40160 of 168
Other37100%96%2938 of 41

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers97%4592%894
Planning committee3%7091%23

Where the register states how the decision was made. 204 decisions did not say.

Appeals

99 appeals against East Devon decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 127 for every 100 refusals; 28% were allowed. Every appeal in East Devon.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *6239%84%44
2017 *2790%92%48
2018 *4772%80%25
2019 *2979%97%36
2020 *6936%84%58
2021 *2774%96%52
2022 *6838%96%26
2023 *7730%92%71
2024 *10011%89%78
2025 *5655%77%34
2026 so far4574%92%1,121

* 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 East Devon's planning register. Ranks are among the 321 published councils. See planning applications in East Devon, appeals, or get alerts for East Devon.

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.