Planning decisions in Watford

How long Watford takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 881 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
84%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 94% within thirteen
84%approved (UK 90%): 730 approved, 136 refused, 8 withdrawn
66 of 388UK rank for speed, down 18 places on last year; 335 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 55 days, 89 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 54 days, 69 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 49 days, 80 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 56 days, 73 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 51 days, 66 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 44 days, 74 decisionsMarApril 2026: 51 days, 78 decisionsAprMay 2026: 55 days, 76 decisionsMayJune 2026: 53 days, 57 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 53 days, 64 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 48 days, 84 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 46 days, 71 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 applications5281%81%28638 of 200
Lawful development certificates3796%89%14043 of 348
Full applications5662%69%117111 of 359
Tree works42100%99%89195 of 324
Prior approvals29100%75%88105 of 340
Discharge of conditions5664%93%66215 of 310
Amendments2784%89%4527 of 356
Advertisement consent5487%100%30126 of 320
Listed building consent *5375%92%1232 of 307

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers99%4984%872
Planning committee1%10389%9

Where the register states how the decision was made.

Appeals

45 appeals against Watford decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 33 for every 100 refusals; 42% were allowed. Every appeal in Watford.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5745%93%29
2017 *5361%98%142
2018 *5749%88%62
2019 *5652%98%127
2020 *7338%97%143
2021 *5182%79%28
2022 *5278%78%46
2023 *2887%98%92
2024 *4194%99%70
2025 *5749%100%47
2026 so far5268%82%643

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

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.