Planning decisions in West Northamptonshire

How long West Northamptonshire takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 3,838 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.

69 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 77 from receipt
40%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 65% within thirteen
92%approved (UK 90%): 3,383 approved, 275 refused, 127 withdrawn
363 of 388UK rank for speed, down 103 places on last year; 163 of 388 for approvals
05691 October 2025: 77 days, 321 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 66 days, 313 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 79 days, 290 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 84 days, 283 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 90 days, 290 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 77 days, 333 decisionsMarApril 2026: 65 days, 367 decisionsAprMay 2026: 74 days, 312 decisionsMayJune 2026: 82 days, 379 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 79 days, 328 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 81 days, 276 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 73 days, 346 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 applications9911%90%1,346339 of 359
Discharge of conditions6842%98%663280 of 310
Tree works4292%over 99%642201 of 324
Lawful development certificates5652%85%245316 of 348
Amendments5850%91%244321 of 356
Listed building consent1169%86%207301 of 307
Prior approvals4182%88%206257 of 340
Advertisement consent8126%95%77306 of 320
Householder applications6835%96%72182 of 200
Outline applications8732%54%4083 of 111
Section 106 and planning obligations *10817%100%2628 of 29
Reserved matters *1590%95%2140 of 45

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers97%6793%3,732
Planning committee3%16673%105

Where the register states how the decision was made. 1 decisions did not say.

Appeals

106 appeals against West Northamptonshire decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 39 for every 100 refusals; 31% were allowed. Every appeal in West Northamptonshire.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *6430%91%256
2017 *5659%94%125
2018 *6241%94%295
2019 *5652%95%105
2020 *5653%98%1,002
2021 *3570%96%201
2022 *7732%87%100
2023 *5257%96%190
2024 *5261%over 99%686
2025 *1156%87%214
2026 so far7736%92%2,914

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

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.