Planning decisions in Uttlesford

How long Uttlesford takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,495 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); 52 from receipt
75%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 90% within thirteen
81%approved (UK 90%): 1,858 approved, 441 refused, 54 withdrawn
77 of 388UK rank for speed, down 12 places on last year; 369 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 45 days, 274 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 53 days, 177 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 48 days, 212 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 51 days, 186 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 62 days, 156 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 51 days, 213 decisionsMarApril 2026: 56 days, 186 decisionsAprMay 2026: 57 days, 198 decisionsMayJune 2026: 53 days, 224 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 50 days, 230 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 51 days, 209 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 53 days, 230 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 conditions4969%82%639104 of 310
Householder applications5181%82%44633 of 200
Full applications5655%74%388138 of 359
Tree works1995%97%33421 of 324
Listed building consent5274%72%22724 of 307
Lawful development certificates4390%73%14167 of 348
Amendments2479%87%13717 of 356
Prior approvals2896%70%7686 of 340
Outline applications5653%50%3638 of 111
Reserved matters *7630%78%2319 of 45
Advertisement consent *5368%89%20113 of 320

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers98%4981%2,441
Planning committee2%10871%49

Where the register states how the decision was made. 5 decisions did not say.

Appeals

102 appeals against Uttlesford decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 23 for every 100 refusals; 23% 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 far5459%80%1,832

* 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 388 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.