Planning decisions in Herefordshire

How long Herefordshire takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,966 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.

52 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 56 from receipt
63%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 80% within thirteen
94%approved (UK 90%): 2,592 approved, 160 refused, 136 withdrawn
157 of 388UK rank for speed, up 26 places on last year; 109 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 56 days, 262 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 58 days, 263 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 50 days, 215 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 60 days, 212 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 50 days, 228 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 56 days, 274 decisionsMarApril 2026: 64 days, 240 decisionsAprMay 2026: 56 days, 235 decisionsMayJune 2026: 57 days, 266 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 61 days, 308 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 58 days, 211 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 55 days, 252 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 applications5652%97%518149 of 200
Tree works3796%96%501133 of 324
Full applications10521%93%479345 of 359
Discharge of conditions3671%97%38428 of 310
Prior approvals1596%87%36013 of 340
Listed building consent6541%97%267197 of 307
Amendments4069%94%207120 of 356
Lawful development certificates5070%87%95142 of 348
Advertisement consent5653%97%36241 of 320
Other5950%100%3329 of 35
Outline applications *22314%64%29110 of 110
Reserved matters *12821%95%2033 of 44

Appeals

36 appeals against Herefordshire decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 23 for every 100 refusals; 17% were allowed. Every appeal in Herefordshire.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *7823%96%27
2017 *4071%98%338
2018 *8519%100%34
2019 *1206%94%39
2020 *7136%88%46
2021 *9110%93%32
2022 *2772%89%161
2023 *1324%100%27
2024 *3563%84%151
2025 *8123%97%31
2026 so far5650%94%2,226

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

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.