Planning decisions in Shropshire

How long Shropshire takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,749 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.

46 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 46 from receipt
80%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 95% within thirteen
92%approved (UK 89%): 1,466 approved, 130 refused, 58 withdrawn
56 of 321UK rank for speed, down 46 places on last year; 146 of 321 for approvals
05691 September 2025: 226 days, 12 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 76 days, 7 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 21 days, 33 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 36 days, 163 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 12 days, 19 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 36 days, 113 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 43 days, 215 decisionsMarApril 2026: 49 days, 197 decisionsAprMay 2026: 45 days, 261 decisionsMayJune 2026: 48 days, 316 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 47 days, 343 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 51 days, 285 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)5273%89%54155 of 302
Discharge of conditions3383%92%33313 of 175
Tree works4281%99%245178 of 259
Amendments2789%94%15871 of 263
Prior approvals2593%98%13022 of 168
Lawful development certificates5088%86%99111 of 253
Listed building consent5266%96%9233 of 200
Other3297%100%6533 of 41
Advertisement consent4988%88%2734 of 190
Outline applications *4879%26%2215 of 39

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officersover 99%4692%1,652
Planning committeeunder 1%46100%6

Where the register states how the decision was made. 91 decisions did not say.

Appeals

112 appeals against Shropshire decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 86 for every 100 refusals; 26% were allowed. Every appeal in Shropshire.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5276%97%72
2017 *5085%96%30
2018 *5562%95%66
2019 *3597%97%661
2020 *2589%95%141
2021 *5261%76%350
2022 *5750%74%81
2023 *5555%96%76
2024 *5184%90%32
2025 *4290%97%179
2026 so far4680%92%1,749

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

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.