Planning decisions in Epping Forest

How long Epping Forest takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,369 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.

55 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 56 from receipt
68%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 89% within thirteen
77%approved (UK 90%): 1,720 approved, 522 refused, 36 withdrawn
229 of 388UK rank for speed, down 54 places on last year; 387 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 56 days, 190 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 56 days, 222 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 55 days, 183 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 55 days, 211 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 55 days, 152 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 55 days, 213 decisionsMarApril 2026: 56 days, 204 decisionsAprMay 2026: 55 days, 200 decisionsMayJune 2026: 56 days, 188 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 55 days, 227 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 56 days, 159 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 56 days, 220 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 applications5572%77%66385 of 200
Discharge of conditions4272%86%40945 of 310
Lawful development certificates5573%81%306246 of 348
Full applications5947%50%280191 of 359
Tree works5354%94%235279 of 324
Amendments5076%73%171209 of 356
Prior approvals2997%83%152102 of 340
Listed building consent6442%70%87192 of 307
Advertisement consent5571%78%33160 of 320
Outline applications *3967%0%1511 of 110

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers99%5577%2,312
Planning committee1%17967%15

Where the register states how the decision was made. 42 decisions did not say.

Appeals

140 appeals against Epping Forest decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 27 for every 100 refusals; 39% were allowed. Every appeal in Epping Forest.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5652%88%25
2017 *6325%98%41
2018 *6043%94%144
2019 *5732%97%31
2020 *5848%95%278
2021 *11514%84%302
2022 *5654%67%116
2023 *6135%85%27
2024 *4967%97%33
2025 *5652%77%31
2026 so far5659%78%1,774

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

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.