Planning decisions in North Hertfordshire

How long North Hertfordshire takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,630 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.

45 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 45 from receipt
76%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 91% within thirteen
93%approved (UK 90%): 1,467 approved, 110 refused, 41 withdrawn
32 of 388UK rank for speed, down 5 places on last year; 147 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 43 days, 183 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 12 days, 22 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 28 days, 86 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 46 days, 140 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 46 days, 146 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 43 days, 192 decisionsMarApril 2026: 42 days, 159 decisionsAprMay 2026: 44 days, 179 decisionsMayJune 2026: 49 days, 193 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 48 days, 168 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 46 days, 134 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 50 days, 208 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 applications5076%93%43117 of 200
Tree works29100%98%34460 of 324
Discharge of conditions5059%97%267125 of 310
Full applications5651%87%149162 of 359
Lawful development certificates3592%81%11539 of 348
Amendments3976%90%93114 of 356
Listed building consent5562%95%8950 of 307
Prior approvals3596%91%49157 of 340
Advertisement consent *5457%86%15124 of 320
Outline applications *5258%67%1327 of 110
Reserved matters *11120%100%1028 of 44

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers99%4593%1,519
Planning committee1%15277%13

Where the register states how the decision was made. 98 decisions did not say.

Appeals

28 appeals against North Hertfordshire decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 25 for every 100 refusals; 25% 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 far4775%93%1,519

* 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 388 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.