Planning decisions in Richmond Upon Thames

How long Richmond Upon Thames takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 4,066 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.

42 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 43 from receipt
80%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 93% within thirteen
88%approved (UK 90%): 3,494 approved, 463 refused, 86 withdrawn
20 of 388UK rank for speed, up 19 places on last year; 270 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 36 days, 352 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 34 days, 391 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 43 days, 318 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 46 days, 319 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 45 days, 274 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 42 days, 333 decisionsMarApril 2026: 45 days, 350 decisionsAprMay 2026: 46 days, 321 decisionsMayJune 2026: 48 days, 336 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 44 days, 390 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 49 days, 330 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 43 days, 352 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 applications5071%86%1,09725 of 200
Tree works3197%96%1,04377 of 324
Discharge of conditions4470%95%49558 of 310
Lawful development certificates4290%89%46962 of 348
Full applications5562%77%35672 of 359
Amendments3280%81%21170 of 356
Prior approvals35100%71%158148 of 340
Listed building consent5650%86%112123 of 307
Advertisement consent5078%81%8748 of 320
Section 106 and planning obligations5367%97%339 of 29

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officersover 99%4289%2,825
Planning committeeunder 1%43100%4

Where the register states how the decision was made. 1,237 decisions did not say.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
20253689%87%1,608
2026 so far4577%89%3,005

Past their target date now

Decided in the last three weeks

Built nightly from Richmond Upon Thames's planning register. Ranks are among the 388 published councils. See planning applications in Richmond Upon Thames, appeals, or get alerts for Richmond Upon Thames.

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.