Planning decisions in Mole Valley

How long Mole Valley takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,673 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); 79 from receipt
53%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 80% within thirteen
80%approved (UK 90%): 1,236 approved, 301 refused, 53 withdrawn
320 of 388UK rank for speed, down 67 places on last year; 374 of 388 for approvals
05691 October 2025: 63 days, 151 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 61 days, 143 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 76 days, 125 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 78 days, 108 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 96 days, 104 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 91 days, 123 decisionsMarApril 2026: 84 days, 173 decisionsAprMay 2026: 101 days, 139 decisionsMayJune 2026: 89 days, 126 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 79 days, 170 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 84 days, 146 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 74 days, 165 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 applications5750%81%476153 of 200
Tree works4961%91%341259 of 324
Discharge of conditions5059%91%232126 of 310
Full applications8513%63%198322 of 359
Lawful development certificates5678%76%148275 of 348
Amendments5657%65%104301 of 356
Prior approvals4287%69%77275 of 340
Listed building consent7039%96%56216 of 307
Advertisement consent *7833%83%12303 of 320
Outline applications *7336%45%1260 of 111

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers97%5680%1,630
Planning committee3%91100%43

Where the register states how the decision was made.

Appeals

116 appeals against Mole Valley decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 39 for every 100 refusals; 31% were allowed. Every appeal in Mole Valley.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5575%100%43
2017 *5663%90%33
2018 *2681%79%53
2019 *5938%98%52
2020 *5652%91%53
2021 *2995%79%45
2022 *7423%93%66
2023 *3673%69%100
2024 *2894%74%35
2025 *899%72%32
2026 so far8526%81%1,254

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

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.