Planning decisions in North Hertfordshire

How long North Hertfordshire takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,025 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.

43 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 43 from receipt
82%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 95% within thirteen
93%approved (UK 89%): 855 approved, 61 refused, 17 withdrawn
37 of 321UK rank for speed, down 10 places on last year; 117 of 321 for approvals
056 September 2025: 42 days, 165 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 43 days, 183 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 44 days, 170 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 46 days, 181 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 16 days, 16 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 32 days, 78 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 39 days, 172 decisionsMarApril 2026: 42 days, 153 decisionsAprMay 2026: 43 days, 172 decisionsMayJune 2026: 49 days, 187 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 49 days, 127 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 48 days, 120 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)5076%92%34431 of 302
Tree works29100%99%21456 of 259
Discharge of conditions4469%97%18861 of 175
Lawful development certificates3194%81%8027 of 253
Amendments4879%86%61198 of 263
Listed building consent5467%96%5150 of 200

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officersover 99%4394%989
Planning committeeunder 1%10167%3

Where the register states how the decision was made. 33 decisions did not say.

Appeals

32 appeals against North Hertfordshire decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 52 for every 100 refusals; 19% were allowed. Every appeal in North Hertfordshire.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5562%96%89
2017 *5573%93%48
2018 *2775%94%142
2019 *3587%88%207
2020 *7631%93%132
2021 *7037%96%134
2022 *2878%89%138
2023 *4274%93%145
2024 *7722%97%122
2025 *3983%95%147
2026 so far4381%93%1,025

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

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.