Planning decisions in Stafford

How long Stafford takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 657 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.

67 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 106 from receipt
43%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 66% within thirteen
80%approved (UK 90%): 499 approved, 123 refused, 20 withdrawn
361 of 388UK rank for speed, down 23 places on last year; 375 of 388 for approvals
05691 October 2025: 50 days, 19 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 54 days, 35 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 79 days, 34 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 82 days, 42 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 113 days, 45 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 99 days, 63 decisionsMarApril 2026: 79 days, 69 decisionsAprMay 2026: 113 days, 68 decisionsMayJune 2026: 105 days, 83 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 125 days, 83 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 137 days, 59 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 141 days, 57 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 applications6345%86%205170 of 200
Tree works5555%90%114287 of 324
Full applications11916%78%109352 of 359
Lawful development certificates5661%65%85297 of 348
Prior approvals5562%76%40332 of 340
Listed building consent *10211%53%21292 of 307
Outline applications *7637%42%2168 of 110
Advertisement consent *11817%94%19319 of 320
Amendments *12621%86%14356 of 356

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers97%7078%483
Planning committee3%13460%14

Where the register states how the decision was made. 160 decisions did not say.

Appeals

44 appeals against Stafford decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 36 for every 100 refusals; 27% were allowed. Every appeal in Stafford.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *6146%82%98
2017 *7127%95%62
2018 *7614%93%43
2019 *7120%93%48
2020 *946%86%38
2021 *1167%77%113
2022 *2172%94%48
2023 *9119%89%103
2024 *867%95%91
2025 *2063%92%43
2026 so far11420%80%569

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

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.