Planning decisions in Maidstone

How long Maidstone takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,096 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.

56 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 56 from receipt
70%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 91% within thirteen
88%approved (UK 90%): 1,755 approved, 244 refused, 70 withdrawn
271 of 388UK rank for speed; 280 of 388 for approvals
056 January 2026: 24 days, 197 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 33 days, 155 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 56 days, 178 decisionsMarApril 2026: 56 days, 181 decisionsAprMay 2026: 56 days, 181 decisionsMayJune 2026: 56 days, 188 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 56 days, 194 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 56 days, 151 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 56 days, 169 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
Full applications5667%86%78395 of 359
Discharge of conditions5656%97%480227 of 310
Tree works3992%96%244159 of 324
Lawful development certificates5678%74%157276 of 348
Listed building consent5673%70%14781 of 307
Amendments5660%92%109298 of 356
Prior approvals4295%81%99268 of 340
Advertisement consent *5659%81%37223 of 320

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers98%5688%2,053
Planning committee2%10092%36

Where the register states how the decision was made. 7 decisions did not say.

Appeals

69 appeals against Maidstone decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 28 for every 100 refusals; 36% were allowed. Every appeal in Maidstone.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
202587%775
2026 so far5670%88%1,594

Past their target date now

Decided in the last three weeks

Built nightly from Maidstone's planning register. Ranks are among the 388 published councils. See planning applications in Maidstone, appeals, or get alerts for Maidstone.

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.