Planning decisions in Herefordshire

How long Herefordshire takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 661 decisions it made in the twelve months to August 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.

51 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 56 from receipt
71%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 88% within thirteen
94%approved (UK 89%): 297 approved, 20 refused, 11 withdrawn
140 of 321UK rank for speed, up 137 places on last year; 109 of 321 for approvals
05691 September 2025: 68 days, 248 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 57 days, 275 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 60 days, 273 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 2 days, 2 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 68 days, 191 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 98 days, 117 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 274 days, 8 decisionsMarApril 2026: 52 days, 116 decisionsAprMay 2026: 52 days, 146 decisionsMayJuly 2026: 56 days, 99 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 59 days, 190 decisionsAug
Median days from validation to decision, by month of decision. Dashed line: UK median (52 days). Grid at 56 and 91 days, the eight and thirteen week targets.

By kind of application

KindMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisionsUK rank
Full applications (including householder)5658%95%194207 of 302
Prior approvals *2486%79%12620 of 168
Tree works3798%88%111111 of 259
Discharge of conditions3377%97%8115 of 175
Listed building consent5655%100%44112 of 200
Amendments *16100%88%386 of 263
Advertisement consent *5655%100%14155 of 190

Appeals

34 appeals against Herefordshire decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 170 for every 100 refusals; 15% 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 far5652%94%659

* 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 321 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.