Planning decisions in Uttlesford

How long Uttlesford takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,239 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.

48 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 51 from receipt
80%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 95% within thirteen
77%approved (UK 89%): 688 approved, 204 refused, 27 withdrawn
73 of 322UK rank for speed, down 67 places on last year; 312 of 322 for approvals
056 September 2025: 49 days, 136 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 42 days, 225 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 54 days, 79 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 32 days, 92 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 17 days, 28 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 28 days, 50 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 45 days, 164 decisionsMarApril 2026: 55 days, 167 decisionsAprMay 2026: 56 days, 183 decisionsMayJune 2026: 54 days, 216 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 54 days, 225 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 52 days, 206 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
Discharge of conditions4470%7%34063 of 178
Householder applications5080%85%20621 of 158
Full applications5566%70%16996 of 298
Tree works2295%97%16422 of 261
Listed building consent5272%76%11332 of 200
Lawful development certificates4591%77%8281 of 256
Amendments2381%83%7715 of 271
Prior approvals24100%52%3318 of 174
Outline applications *7627%55%1135 of 40

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers99%4877%1,198
Planning committee1%7873%15

Where the register states how the decision was made. 26 decisions did not say.

Appeals

87 appeals against Uttlesford decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 43 for every 100 refusals; 21% were allowed. Every appeal in Uttlesford.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *6334%87%251
2017 *2494%79%34
2018 *2588%88%42
2019 *2786%84%44
2020 *2298%84%58
2021 *2585%88%44
2022 *2296%82%28
2023 *1098%over 99%293
2024 *5365%72%159
2025 *5461%55%67
2026 so far5165%77%1,239

* 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 Uttlesford's planning register. Ranks are among the 322 published councils. See planning applications in Uttlesford, appeals, or get alerts for Uttlesford.

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.