Planning decisions in Milton Keynes

How long Milton Keynes takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,035 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.

55 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 60 from receipt
71%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 90% within thirteen
85%approved (UK 90%): 1,593 approved, 286 refused, 67 withdrawn
224 of 388UK rank for speed, down 50 places on last year; 331 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 55 days, 161 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 59 days, 159 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 53 days, 221 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 58 days, 184 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 58 days, 106 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 56 days, 142 decisionsMarApril 2026: 61 days, 167 decisionsAprMay 2026: 60 days, 187 decisionsMayJune 2026: 73 days, 194 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 64 days, 189 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 69 days, 171 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 75 days, 154 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
Householder applications5662%91%525125 of 200
Discharge of conditions5478%78%380169 of 310
Full applications5850%73%283176 of 359
Lawful development certificates5187%74%208151 of 348
Tree works4289%94%179204 of 324
Prior approvals4191%96%150248 of 340
Amendments3274%88%13672 of 356
Listed building consent5659%98%7496 of 307
Advertisement consent5570%95%68164 of 320
Outline applications *4082%27%1212 of 110

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers98%5585%2,004
Planning committee2%11593%31

Where the register states how the decision was made.

Appeals

50 appeals against Milton Keynes decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 17 for every 100 refusals; 18% were allowed. Every appeal in Milton Keynes.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *6234%96%122
2017 *3173%89%178
2018 *3990%99%157
2019 *4186%98%175
2020 *2796%88%148
2021 *5654%83%443
2022 *7323%94%119
2023 *5847%98%57
2024 *15100%100%27
2025 *994%100%32
2026 so far6342%85%1,494

* 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 Milton Keynes's planning register. Ranks are among the 388 published councils. See planning applications in Milton Keynes, appeals, or get alerts for Milton Keynes.

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.