Planning decisions in Preston

How long Preston takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 905 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.

55 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 55 from receipt
65%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 92% within thirteen
93%approved (UK 90%): 809 approved, 60 refused, 24 withdrawn
236 of 388UK rank for speed, down 66 places on last year; 143 of 388 for approvals
05691 October 2025: 485 days, 7 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 1,833 days, 5 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 675 days, 4 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 568 days, 1 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 1,003 days, 3 decisionsFebApril 2026: 538 days, 1 decisionsAprJune 2026: 36 days, 108 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 46 days, 69 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 55 days, 79 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 57 days, 101 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 applications5560%94%38977 of 359
Advertisement consent *5193%87%5563 of 320

Appeals

31 appeals against Preston decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 52 for every 100 refusals; 45% were allowed. Every appeal in Preston.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5262%97%42
2017 *2991%94%93
2018 *3995%90%79
2019 *5560%100%47
2020 *2284%96%28
2021 *2292%88%119
2022 *5355%100%34
2023 *3988%94%32
2024 *2891%99%74
2025 *22420%89%48
2026 so far5565%94%724

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

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 Withdrawn and undecided applications are not timed.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.