Planning decisions in Wakefield

How long Wakefield takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,328 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.

56 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 62 from receipt
57%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 82% within thirteen
90%approved (UK 90%): 1,130 approved, 130 refused, 24 withdrawn
299 of 388UK rank for speed, up 1 place on last year; 237 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 15 days, 5 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 49 days, 18 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 38 days, 66 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 58 days, 104 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 64 days, 86 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 69 days, 130 decisionsMarApril 2026: 62 days, 151 decisionsAprMay 2026: 68 days, 153 decisionsMayJune 2026: 59 days, 167 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 63 days, 147 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 60 days, 146 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 69 days, 155 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
Full applications6242%92%605219 of 359
Discharge of conditions5848%100%198245 of 310
Tree works47100%55%161239 of 324
Lawful development certificates5368%96%110186 of 348
Amendments4465%98%91152 of 356
Prior approvals2994%95%84104 of 340
Advertisement consent5561%87%38173 of 320
Listed building consent7132%92%25227 of 307

Appeals

72 appeals against Wakefield decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 55 for every 100 refusals; 29% 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 far6439%90%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 Wakefield's planning register. Ranks are among the 388 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.