Planning decisions in Nottingham

How long Nottingham takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 844 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.

51 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 56 from receipt
72%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 93% within thirteen
95%approved (UK 89%): 756 approved, 43 refused, 14 withdrawn
139 of 322UK rank for speed, up 121 places on last year; 85 of 322 for approvals
056 September 2025: 59 days, 131 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 58 days, 97 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 39 days, 22 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 47 days, 110 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 36 days, 3 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 41 days, 50 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 52 days, 104 decisionsMarApril 2026: 55 days, 139 decisionsAprMay 2026: 59 days, 104 decisionsMayJune 2026: 56 days, 138 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 57 days, 170 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 61 days, 136 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 applications5654%90%312177 of 298
Tree works3794%99%198116 of 261
Lawful development certificates4979%97%123106 of 256
Discharge of conditions5461%100%69135 of 178
Amendments4275%98%44151 of 271
Prior approvals *45100%80%39119 of 174
Advertisement consent5487%90%3188 of 192
Listed building consent *5579%96%2465 of 200

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officersover 99%5294%793
Planning committeeunder 1%94100%2

Where the register states how the decision was made. 49 decisions did not say.

Appeals

44 appeals against Nottingham decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 102 for every 100 refusals; 50% were allowed. Every appeal in Nottingham.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5662%100%95
2017 *5097%30%32
2018 *3168%94%101
2019 *3380%99%279
2020 *7242%89%48
2021 *7427%100%83
2022 *9919%100%65
2023 *5749%96%69
2024 *7037%99%84
2025 *6145%92%148
2026 so far5654%95%844

* 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 Nottingham's planning register. Ranks are among the 322 published councils. See planning applications in Nottingham, appeals, or get alerts for Nottingham.

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.