Planning decisions in Newham

How long Newham takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,392 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.

54 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 54 from receipt
72%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 93% within thirteen
86%approved (UK 90%): 1,923 approved, 310 refused, 86 withdrawn
188 of 388UK rank for speed, down 124 places on last year; 314 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 52 days, 13 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 45 days, 45 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 41 days, 83 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 9 days, 195 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 30 days, 146 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 49 days, 235 decisionsMarApril 2026: 54 days, 181 decisionsAprMay 2026: 54 days, 193 decisionsMayJune 2026: 55 days, 204 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 55 days, 205 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 55 days, 175 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 55 days, 245 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%77%57494 of 359
Discharge of conditions5162%97%491134 of 310
Householder applications5564%86%40195 of 200
Lawful development certificates5485%77%355210 of 348
Prior approvals3995%87%181212 of 340
Section 106 and planning obligations2681%100%1192 of 29
Amendments3473%93%9781 of 356
Advertisement consent5575%92%95157 of 320
Tree works4079%98%56176 of 324

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers99%5483%1,858
Planning committee1%5180%10

Where the register states how the decision was made. 524 decisions did not say.

Appeals

87 appeals against Newham decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 28 for every 100 refusals; 15% were allowed. Every appeal in Newham.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *54100%14%29
2017 *1398%88%70
2018 *5197%69%97
2019 *6844%92%29
2020 *2795%75%72
2021 *5477%100%48
2022 *5553%94%461
2023 *6541%91%50
2024 *4982%100%66
2025 *23100%97%44
2026 so far5472%86%1,779

* Years from our archive, which carries no validation date: timed from receipt, so a few days longer than the live years above them.

Decided in the last three weeks

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

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.