Planning decisions in East Suffolk

How long East Suffolk takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 3,129 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.

54 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 57 from receipt
65%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 87% within thirteen
95%approved (UK 90%): 2,804 approved, 155 refused, 106 withdrawn
199 of 388UK rank for speed, down 58 places on last year; 92 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 55 days, 245 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 52 days, 188 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 55 days, 273 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 57 days, 229 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 67 days, 262 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 57 days, 296 decisionsMarApril 2026: 57 days, 282 decisionsAprMay 2026: 65 days, 265 decisionsMayJune 2026: 63 days, 339 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 60 days, 286 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 59 days, 217 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 59 days, 247 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 applications5652%93%1,256154 of 359
Discharge of conditions5267%99%539142 of 310
Tree works4096%over 99%483172 of 324
Amendments4872%94%305189 of 356
Listed building consent5650%98%168125 of 307
Prior approvals4679%76%138305 of 340
Lawful development certificates5355%95%100200 of 348
Advertisement consent5652%84%44247 of 320
Outline applications *6636%60%1751 of 110

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers99%5495%2,885
Planning committee1%9790%42

Where the register states how the decision was made. 202 decisions did not say.

Appeals

58 appeals against East Suffolk decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 37 for every 100 refusals; 28% were allowed. Every appeal in East Suffolk.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *7313%93%47
2017 *5162%98%630
2018 *5747%93%77
2019 *5360%98%66
2020 *2682%89%229
2021 *6733%91%34
2022 *5654%91%36
2023 *2883%92%147
2024 *6038%97%41
2025 *6733%91%46
2026 so far6045%95%2,423

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

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.