Planning decisions in Waverley

How long Waverley takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 48 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.

42 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 42 from receipt
100%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 100% within thirteen
89%approved (UK 89%): 40 approved, 5 refused, 1 withdrawn
26 of 323UK rank for speed, up 168 places on last year; 198 of 323 for approvals
05691 July 2025: 58 days, 237 decisionsJulAugust 2025: 57 days, 174 decisionsAugSeptember 2025: 64 days, 160 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 62 days, 216 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 57 days, 177 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 56 days, 171 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 58 days, 176 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 70 days, 124 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 104 days, 61 decisionsMarApril 2026: 156 days, 10 decisionsAprJuly 2026: 9 days, 4 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 45 days, 44 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
Householder applications *50100%100%1416 of 159
Amendments *13100%82%112 of 272
Lawful development certificates *42100%82%1157 of 258

Appeals

99 appeals against Waverley decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 1980 for every 100 refusals; 26% were allowed. Every appeal in Waverley.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *7028%95%42
2017 *7023%98%120
2018 *769%95%99
2019 *7820%98%43
2020 *1066%99%91
2021 *1420%95%99
2022 *9213%97%36
2023 *2881%77%27
2024 *2879%91%33
2025 *6423%89%36
2026 so far42100%89%48

* 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 Waverley's planning register. Ranks are among the 323 published councils. See planning applications in Waverley, appeals, or get alerts for Waverley.

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.