Planning decisions in East Devon

How long East Devon takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,959 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.

45 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 45 from receipt
74%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 90% within thirteen
91%approved (UK 90%): 1,572 approved, 153 refused, 59 withdrawn
34 of 388UK rank for speed, up 52 places on last year; 202 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 54 days, 232 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 56 days, 182 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 47 days, 155 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 9 days, 139 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 33 days, 174 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 39 days, 199 decisionsMarApril 2026: 41 days, 218 decisionsAprMay 2026: 48 days, 175 decisionsMayJune 2026: 43 days, 194 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 50 days, 206 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 52 days, 186 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 50 days, 214 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 applications4970%92%7279 of 359
Discharge of conditions2286%97%3632 of 310
Tree works4092%93%262173 of 324
Listed building consent6240%96%146171 of 307
Amendments5653%98%142307 of 356
Lawful development certificates4283%78%9565 of 348
Prior approvals4377%76%82289 of 340
Advertisement consent *5660%53%28216 of 320
Other37100%96%2814 of 35

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers97%4491%1,498
Planning committee3%8084%46

Where the register states how the decision was made. 415 decisions did not say.

Appeals

103 appeals against East Devon decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 67 for every 100 refusals; 27% 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%91%1,705

* 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 388 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.