Planning decisions in Kensington And Chelsea

How long Kensington And Chelsea takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 3,170 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.

87 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 87 from receipt
36%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 52% within thirteen
96%approved (UK 89%): 2,711 approved, 122 refused, 289 withdrawn
320 of 322UK rank for speed; 58 of 322 for approvals
05691 March 2026: 148 days, 327 decisionsMarApril 2026: 138 days, 747 decisionsAprMay 2026: 91 days, 573 decisionsMayJune 2026: 55 days, 580 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 54 days, 580 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 53 days, 359 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
Tree works5153%99%657223 of 261
Discharge of conditions11730%97%505178 of 178
Amendments7340%89%167269 of 271
Advertisement consent7739%93%150185 of 192
Lawful development certificates7435%94%54255 of 256
Listed building consent *830%100%12195 of 200

Appeals

66 appeals against Kensington And Chelsea decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 54 for every 100 refusals; 35% were allowed. Every appeal in Kensington And Chelsea.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2026 so far8736%96%3,170

Decided in the last three weeks

Built nightly from Kensington And Chelsea's planning register. Ranks are among the 322 published councils. See planning applications in Kensington And Chelsea, appeals, or get alerts for Kensington And Chelsea.

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 Withdrawn and undecided applications are not timed.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.