Planning decisions in Rotherham

How long Rotherham takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 341 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.

49 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 33 from receipt
82%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 96% within thirteen
85%approved (UK 89%): 277 approved, 47 refused, 12 withdrawn
91 of 321UK rank for speed, down 15 places on last year; 254 of 321 for approvals
05691 September 2025: 55 days, 128 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 50 days, 117 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 50 days, 106 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 55 days, 80 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 54 days, 104 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 69 days, 50 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 110 days, 30 decisionsMarApril 2026: 24 days, 20 decisionsAprMay 2026: 32 days, 75 decisionsMayJune 2026: 28 days, 65 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 36 days, 96 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 33 days, 84 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
Tree works4286%84%34174 of 259
Lawful development certificates *44100%81%2170 of 253
Amendments *2491%89%1933 of 263
Advertisement consent *45100%81%1617 of 190

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers98%4986%335
Planning committee2%11483%6

Where the register states how the decision was made.

Appeals

34 appeals against Rotherham decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 72 for every 100 refusals; 26% were allowed. Every appeal in Rotherham.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5656%93%120
2017 *6736%88%25
2018 *10111%91%47
2019 *939%100%52
2020 *4286%98%136
2021 *4873%95%41
2022 *4876%95%38
2023 *6944%96%25
2024 *1837%95%65
2025 *4195%100%40
2026 so far3393%85%341

* 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 Rotherham's planning register. Ranks are among the 321 published councils. See planning applications in Rotherham, appeals, or get alerts for Rotherham.

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.