Planning decisions in Westminster

How long Westminster takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 3,005 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.

44 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 48 from receipt
71%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 92% within thirteen
89%approved (UK 89%): 2,516 approved, 321 refused, 92 withdrawn
45 of 321UK rank for speed, down 42 places on last year; 201 of 321 for approvals
05691 August 2025: 45 days, 592 decisionsAugSeptember 2025: 49 days, 606 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 56 days, 475 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 89 days, 76 decisionsNovJanuary 2026: 12 days, 14 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 29 days, 33 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 34 days, 164 decisionsMarApril 2026: 50 days, 366 decisionsAprMay 2026: 53 days, 533 decisionsMayJune 2026: 50 days, 584 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 48 days, 754 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 45 days, 557 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
Discharge of conditions2784%91%8113 of 175
Full applications (including householder)5848%86%665253 of 302
Listed building consent5557%89%55880 of 200
Advertisement consent3081%82%4042 of 190
Tree works2792%100%28144 of 259
Amendments2885%89%12790 of 263
Lawful development certificates5078%81%68119 of 253

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officersover 99%4489%2,878
Planning committeeunder 1%84100%2

Where the register states how the decision was made. 125 decisions did not say.

Appeals

142 appeals against Westminster decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 44 for every 100 refusals; 28% were allowed. Every appeal in Westminster.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5561%74%126
2017 *4898%4%193
2018 *4972%4%297
2019 *4994%69%56
2020 *5193%50%33
2021 *5071%88%133
2022 *5456%85%72
2023 *5452%78%74
2024 *5563%84%46
2025 *17100%100%44
2026 so far4864%89%3,005

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

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.