Planning decisions in Hounslow

How long Hounslow takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,480 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.

48 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 52 from receipt
82%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 96% within thirteen
85%approved (UK 89%): 1,160 approved, 203 refused, 6 withdrawn
71 of 321UK rank for speed, up 87 places on last year; 261 of 321 for approvals
056 September 2025: 56 days, 257 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 56 days, 261 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 56 days, 216 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 56 days, 259 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 15 days, 22 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 23 days, 80 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 55 days, 199 decisionsMarApril 2026: 55 days, 244 decisionsAprMay 2026: 55 days, 224 decisionsMayJune 2026: 54 days, 224 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 51 days, 249 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 52 days, 238 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)5174%73%51538 of 302
Tree works25100%99%27231 of 259
Lawful development certificates4990%100%247100 of 253
Prior approvals4293%66%15799 of 168
Discharge of conditions5371%89%143117 of 175
Amendments3280%83%64121 of 263
Advertisement consent5080%72%4842 of 190
Listed building consent *5278%94%1929 of 200

Appeals

143 appeals against Hounslow decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 70 for every 100 refusals; 40% were allowed. Every appeal in Hounslow.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *6045%73%57
2017 *5474%48%29
2018 *5654%90%126
2019 *5663%56%108
2020 *626%100%72
2021 *2778%81%104
2022 *55100%42%32
2023 *7418%78%46
2024 *5749%72%76
2025 *6435%75%81
2026 so far5267%85%1,480

* 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 Hounslow's planning register. Ranks are among the 321 published councils. See planning applications in Hounslow, appeals, or get alerts for Hounslow.

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.