Planning decisions in Lewisham

How long Lewisham takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,418 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.

54 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 56 from receipt
84%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 96% within thirteen
87%approved (UK 89%): 1,109 approved, 167 refused, 22 withdrawn
195 of 322UK rank for speed, up 9 places on last year; 231 of 322 for approvals
056 September 2025: 57 days, 255 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 56 days, 296 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 57 days, 258 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 55 days, 292 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 8 days, 21 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 20 days, 71 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 41 days, 189 decisionsMarApril 2026: 51 days, 252 decisionsAprMay 2026: 57 days, 213 decisionsMayJune 2026: 56 days, 222 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 57 days, 251 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 57 days, 199 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 works2698%over 99%29434 of 261
Full applications5679%84%273121 of 298
Householder applications5675%88%272100 of 158
Lawful development certificates5589%86%172191 of 256
Discharge of conditions5579%89%151143 of 178
Prior approvals4198%15%8489 of 174
Amendments2882%89%6860 of 271
Advertisement consent *5685%85%20125 of 192
Listed building consent *5667%100%1397 of 200

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officersover 99%5487%1,324
Planning committeeunder 1%111100%2

Where the register states how the decision was made. 92 decisions did not say.

Appeals

73 appeals against Lewisham decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 44 for every 100 refusals; 23% were allowed. Every appeal in Lewisham.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *9425%88%36
2017 *5464%81%62
2018 *7030%85%100
2019 *9612%93%44
2020 *9023%86%46
2021 *9118%82%37
2022 *3787%100%472
2023 *7229%77%33
2024 *2891%99%605
2025 *6029%75%53
2026 so far5655%87%1,418

* 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 Lewisham's planning register. Ranks are among the 322 published councils. See planning applications in Lewisham, appeals, or get alerts for Lewisham.

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.