Planning decisions in Maidstone

How long Maidstone takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,008 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.

56 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 56 from receipt
71%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 92% within thirteen
88%approved (UK 89%): 835 approved, 118 refused, 32 withdrawn
258 of 321UK rank for speed; 218 of 321 for approvals
056 January 2026: 23 days, 3 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 33 days, 39 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 56 days, 125 decisionsMarApril 2026: 56 days, 163 decisionsAprMay 2026: 56 days, 163 decisionsMayJune 2026: 56 days, 184 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 56 days, 186 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 56 days, 145 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)5667%88%403181 of 302
Discharge of conditions5659%95%208154 of 175
Tree works3893%96%121126 of 259
Lawful development certificates5679%76%84218 of 253
Listed building consent5676%68%7188 of 200
Prior approvals4397%73%52109 of 168
Amendments2876%96%2699 of 263
Advertisement consent *5750%94%16160 of 190
Other *2880%80%1231 of 41

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers99%5688%992
Planning committee1%10089%9

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

Appeals

68 appeals against Maidstone decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 58 for every 100 refusals; 37% were allowed. Every appeal in Maidstone.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2026 so far5671%88%1,008

Past their target date now

Decided in the last three weeks

Built nightly from Maidstone's planning register. Ranks are among the 321 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.