Planning decisions in South Kesteven

How long South Kesteven takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,287 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.

56 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 58 from receipt
56%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 85% within thirteen
93%approved (UK 90%): 1,169 approved, 83 refused, 17 withdrawn
301 of 388UK rank for speed, down 94 places on last year; 138 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 55 days, 1 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 16 days, 12 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 34 days, 67 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 56 days, 111 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 56 days, 132 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 53 days, 135 decisionsMarApril 2026: 63 days, 138 decisionsAprMay 2026: 61 days, 106 decisionsMayJune 2026: 58 days, 161 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 76 days, 168 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 62 days, 110 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 71 days, 146 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 applications6241%95%264169 of 200
Tree works3388%96%25686 of 324
Prior approvals2295%92%16433 of 340
Full applications8117%84%155309 of 359
Discharge of conditions5945%99%146247 of 310
Listed building consent6237%96%109169 of 307
Amendments5555%93%91288 of 356
Lawful development certificates5653%92%50314 of 348
Advertisement consent *5947%100%19266 of 320
Outline applications *9127%36%1484 of 110
Section 106 and planning obligations *3573%100%124 of 29

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers97%5693%1,211
Planning committee3%10395%38

Where the register states how the decision was made. 38 decisions did not say.

Appeals

47 appeals against South Kesteven decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 57 for every 100 refusals; 34% were allowed. Every appeal in South Kesteven.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *6134%100%70
2017 *2387%100%64
2018 *2187%100%62
2019 *5949%87%70
2020 *7133%100%48
2021 *3686%100%58
2022 *2994%94%33
2023 *4171%89%179
2024 *2887%97%30
2025 *7036%96%203
2026 so far6046%93%1,207

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

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.