Planning decisions in North Northamptonshire

How long North Northamptonshire takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,850 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.

58 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 76 from receipt
49%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 74% within thirteen
89%approved (UK 90%): 1,515 approved, 178 refused, 98 withdrawn
337 of 388UK rank for speed, down 153 places on last year; 244 of 388 for approvals
05691 October 2025: 361 days, 11 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 174 days, 21 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 46 days, 53 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 59 days, 112 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 65 days, 202 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 67 days, 134 decisionsMarApril 2026: 82 days, 159 decisionsAprMay 2026: 94 days, 217 decisionsMayJune 2026: 90 days, 244 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 80 days, 271 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 66 days, 202 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 70 days, 224 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
Discharge of conditions6541%93%406273 of 310
Householder applications7139%90%370185 of 200
Tree works4287%99%309208 of 324
Full applications9125%78%250330 of 359
Lawful development certificates5661%82%151298 of 348
Listed building consent8024%86%107256 of 307
Amendments5747%91%99320 of 356
Prior approvals4174%87%78238 of 340
Advertisement consent8429%83%36308 of 320
Outline applications *6642%50%1250 of 110

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officersover 99%5889%1,771
Planning committeeunder 1%112100%7

Where the register states how the decision was made. 72 decisions did not say.

Appeals

76 appeals against North Northamptonshire decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 43 for every 100 refusals; 51% were allowed. Every appeal in North Northamptonshire.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
20245460%90%137
2025 *6533%98%88
2026 so far7733%89%1,765

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

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.