Planning decisions in Richmond Upon Thames

How long Richmond Upon Thames takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,089 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.

42 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 42 from receipt
84%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 96% within thirteen
90%approved (UK 89%): 1,810 approved, 212 refused, 39 withdrawn
28 of 321UK rank for speed; 187 of 321 for approvals
056 January 2026: 8 days, 39 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 29 days, 156 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 38 days, 293 decisionsMarApril 2026: 44 days, 336 decisionsAprMay 2026: 46 days, 291 decisionsMayJune 2026: 48 days, 304 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 44 days, 367 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 48 days, 303 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 applications (including householder)5074%85%73432 of 302
Tree works3198%98%49669 of 259
Prior approvals4092%88%32880 of 168
Discharge of conditions4278%97%24847 of 175
Amendments3182%81%111114 of 263
Advertisement consent5085%77%5541 of 190
Listed building consent5069%83%5115 of 200
Other *2895%95%1930 of 41
Lawful development certificates *5467%83%12181 of 253
Reserved matters *5567%100%126 of 12

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officersover 99%4289%2,065
Planning committeeunder 1%35100%1

Where the register states how the decision was made. 23 decisions did not say.

Appeals

127 appeals against Richmond Upon Thames decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 60 for every 100 refusals; 36% were allowed. Every appeal in Richmond Upon Thames.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2026 so far4283%90%2,089

Past their target date now

Decided in the last three weeks

Built nightly from Richmond Upon Thames's planning register. Ranks are among the 321 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.