Planning decisions in Manchester

How long Manchester takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 609 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.

51 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 54 from receipt
80%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 96% within thirteen
92%approved (UK 89%): 508 approved, 47 refused, 26 withdrawn
126 of 321UK rank for speed, down 32 places on last year; 151 of 321 for approvals
05691 September 2025: 55 days, 314 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 55 days, 344 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 55 days, 346 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 54 days, 342 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 56 days, 320 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 67 days, 169 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 16 days, 16 decisionsMarApril 2026: 41 days, 112 decisionsAprMay 2026: 58 days, 165 decisionsMayJune 2026: 81 days, 79 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 35 days, 54 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 50 days, 183 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)5578%90%204121 of 302
Discharge of conditions4272%93%18053 of 175
Amendments2490%93%7334 of 263
Lawful development certificates5475%86%38177 of 253
Listed building consent5291%91%3427 of 200
Advertisement consent5293%86%3161 of 190
Tree works37100%100%30108 of 259
Prior approvals *5080%100%15134 of 168

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officersover 99%5192%607
Planning committeeunder 1%94100%2

Where the register states how the decision was made.

Appeals

112 appeals against Manchester decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 238 for every 100 refusals; 39% were allowed. Every appeal in Manchester.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5657%97%150
2017 *5099%13%91
2018 *4577%98%217
2019 *5074%100%59
2020 *5567%100%36
2021 *4268%98%217
2022 *4858%97%241
2023 *4663%95%195
2024 *5269%96%56
2025 *3780%97%183
2026 so far5462%92%609

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

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.