Planning decisions in West Oxfordshire

How long West Oxfordshire takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,056 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); 55 from receipt
76%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 90% within thirteen
96%approved (UK 90%): 1,891 approved, 74 refused, 71 withdrawn
74 of 388UK rank for speed, down 44 places on last year; 53 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 51 days, 187 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 55 days, 149 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 55 days, 157 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 60 days, 168 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 56 days, 173 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 53 days, 169 decisionsMarApril 2026: 54 days, 162 decisionsAprMay 2026: 52 days, 180 decisionsMayJune 2026: 59 days, 184 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 59 days, 203 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 52 days, 156 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 56 days, 168 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 applications5180%97%52534 of 200
Tree works2599%over 99%45537 of 324
Full applications6741%91%268242 of 359
Discharge of conditions4471%97%24554 of 310
Listed building consent5464%97%20542 of 307
Amendments5073%98%144205 of 356
Lawful development certificates5081%91%101130 of 348
Prior approvals2994%94%38103 of 340
Other *5163%96%2520 of 35
Advertisement consent *5381%90%22105 of 320

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers98%5295%1,577
Planning committee2%11084%32

Where the register states how the decision was made. 447 decisions did not say.

Appeals

50 appeals against West Oxfordshire decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 68 for every 100 refusals; 12% were allowed. Every appeal in West Oxfordshire.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5183%100%30
2017 *1187%99%73
2018 *5670%94%33
2019 *8345%71%32
2020 *3082%89%69
2021 *2780%92%68
2022 *6933%96%234
2023 *2690%90%65
2024 *2479%90%66
2025 *2177%93%78
2026 so far5653%96%1,563

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

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.