Planning decisions in West Berkshire

How long West Berkshire takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,045 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); 57 from receipt
65%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 91% within thirteen
91%approved (UK 89%): 805 approved, 78 refused, 35 withdrawn
236 of 321UK rank for speed, down 82 places on last year; 160 of 321 for approvals
056 September 2025: 56 days, 63 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 24 days, 48 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 49 days, 121 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 56 days, 172 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 12 days, 21 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 28 days, 42 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 54 days, 111 decisionsMarApril 2026: 61 days, 167 decisionsAprMay 2026: 63 days, 163 decisionsMayJune 2026: 59 days, 189 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 60 days, 204 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 57 days, 148 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 applications (including householder)5947%91%338259 of 302
Tree works4777%96%210200 of 259
Discharge of conditions5373%91%177120 of 175
Prior approvals *4683%67%105121 of 168
Lawful development certificates5278%83%81147 of 253
Amendments2495%93%4732 of 263
Listed building consent5657%98%43109 of 200
Advertisement consent *5554%100%13119 of 190

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers99%5690%753
Planning committee1%9667%6

Where the register states how the decision was made. 286 decisions did not say.

Appeals

47 appeals against West Berkshire decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 60 for every 100 refusals; 21% were allowed. Every appeal in West Berkshire.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5672%89%47
2017 *3679%78%147
2018 *2986%91%345
2019 *4074%88%106
2020 *6235%99%146
2021 *7030%94%385
2022 *2867%96%42
2023 *3489%92%38
2024 *2887%97%32
2025 *1100%100%102
2026 so far5746%91%1,045

* 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 West Berkshire's planning register. Ranks are among the 321 published councils. See planning applications in West Berkshire, appeals, or get alerts for West Berkshire.

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.