Planning decisions in Elmbridge

How long Elmbridge takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,698 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.

56 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 65 from receipt
63%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 88% within thirteen
82%approved (UK 90%): 2,094 approved, 456 refused
282 of 388UK rank for speed, down 64 places on last year; 360 of 388 for approvals
05691 October 2025: 61 days, 220 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 56 days, 199 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 55 days, 254 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 70 days, 208 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 76 days, 229 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 81 days, 231 decisionsMarApril 2026: 68 days, 238 decisionsAprMay 2026: 73 days, 209 decisionsMayJune 2026: 70 days, 236 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 63 days, 256 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 61 days, 197 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 63 days, 221 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 applications5749%84%856155 of 200
Tree works4298%88%435199 of 324
Discharge of conditions5660%89%319209 of 310
Lawful development certificates5578%72%294239 of 348
Full applications7132%71%272274 of 359
Amendments5663%85%217295 of 356
Prior approvals2796%81%19170 of 340
Advertisement consent5664%78%39209 of 320
Listed building consent *7918%91%22255 of 307
Section 106 and planning obligations *8019%86%2121 of 29

Appeals

112 appeals against Elmbridge decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 25 for every 100 refusals; 39% were allowed. Every appeal in Elmbridge.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *7716%97%31
2017 *2981%57%146
2018 *8723%100%30
2019 *5276%79%29
2020 *8518%82%39
2021 *8312%88%33
2022 *2794%80%50
2023 *2895%85%41
2024 *21100%97%39
2025 *8118%82%35
2026 so far6839%81%2,025

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

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.