Planning decisions in Southwark

How long Southwark takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 3,404 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.

49 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 53 from receipt
71%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 87% within thirteen
94%approved (UK 90%): 3,084 approved, 193 refused, 114 withdrawn
81 of 388UK rank for speed, down 12 places on last year; 112 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 42 days, 255 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 50 days, 271 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 52 days, 302 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 56 days, 254 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 58 days, 258 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 53 days, 313 decisionsMarApril 2026: 52 days, 305 decisionsAprMay 2026: 51 days, 255 decisionsMayJune 2026: 55 days, 268 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 54 days, 341 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 53 days, 247 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 56 days, 335 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
Discharge of conditions4961%96%823108 of 310
Tree works34over 99%98%57890 of 324
Householder applications5276%95%52243 of 200
Full applications5555%88%52085 of 359
Amendments4272%94%220134 of 356
Lawful development certificates4986%95%205118 of 348
Section 106 and planning obligations5256%99%2028 of 29
Listed building consent5262%93%16528 of 307
Advertisement consent5557%84%104175 of 320
Prior approvals4088%74%47222 of 340

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers99%4993%2,251
Planning committee1%122100%12

Where the register states how the decision was made. 1,141 decisions did not say.

Appeals

51 appeals against Southwark decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 26 for every 100 refusals; 31% were allowed. Every appeal in Southwark.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5840%80%188
2017 *5599%4%73
2018 *4999%18%68
2019 *3794%98%300
2020 *5185%73%33
2021 *8519%100%32
2022 *15541%96%29
2023 *6335%85%181
2024 *6340%92%145
2025 *6340%87%50
2026 so far5557%94%2,576

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

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.