Planning decisions in Trafford

How long Trafford takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,284 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.

55 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 59 from receipt
70%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 92% within thirteen
87%approved (UK 90%): 1,889 approved, 287 refused
225 of 388UK rank for speed, down 52 places on last year; 303 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 58 days, 188 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 60 days, 152 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 56 days, 194 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 63 days, 176 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 68 days, 148 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 57 days, 201 decisionsMarApril 2026: 58 days, 180 decisionsAprMay 2026: 58 days, 189 decisionsMayJune 2026: 58 days, 206 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 62 days, 239 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 56 days, 204 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 57 days, 207 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 applications5567%88%92289 of 200
Discharge of conditions4377%92%37548 of 310
Full applications6143%82%238211 of 359
Lawful development certificates5480%82%225213 of 348
Amendments4572%91%176157 of 356
Tree works4794%97%140241 of 324
Prior approvals4188%71%94253 of 340
Advertisement consent5662%74%87211 of 320
Listed building consent *10820%90%11296 of 307

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers99%5585%1,846
Planning committee1%9383%23

Where the register states how the decision was made. 415 decisions did not say.

Appeals

66 appeals against Trafford decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 23 for every 100 refusals; 29% were allowed. Every appeal in Trafford.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5655%99%93
2017 *6148%100%201
2018 *7434%91%80
2019 *2872%93%150
2020 *5474%70%30
2021 *6736%87%56
2022 *3771%92%132
2023 *8820%64%61
2024 *1045%84%40
2025 *3178%90%128
2026 so far5945%87%1,750

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

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.