Planning decisions in Wakefield

How long Wakefield takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 754 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.

55 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 58 from receipt
61%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 88% within thirteen
89%approved (UK 89%): 536 approved, 66 refused, 10 withdrawn
244 of 322UK rank for speed, up 56 places on last year; 197 of 322 for approvals
056 September 2025: 69 days, 152 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 69 days, 150 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 69 days, 126 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 57 days, 152 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 19 days, 3 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 37 days, 25 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 56 days, 73 decisionsMarApril 2026: 60 days, 128 decisionsAprMay 2026: 63 days, 132 decisionsMayJune 2026: 56 days, 150 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 66 days, 121 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 57 days, 122 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
Full applications5848%95%348211 of 298
Tree works48100%61%102206 of 261
Lawful development certificates4974%96%5799 of 256
Amendments4463%98%54166 of 271
Advertisement consent5565%88%26105 of 192
Listed building consent *7329%100%14183 of 200

Appeals

64 appeals against Wakefield decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 97 for every 100 refusals; 30% were allowed. Every appeal in Wakefield.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5469%93%89
2017 *5748%93%99
2018 *7239%over 99%288
2019 *9034%99%305
2020 *4754%89%31
2021 *9231%87%64
2022 *8227%98%48
2023 *7719%91%59
2024 *6829%96%58
2025 *6228%91%46
2026 so far5845%89%754

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

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.