Planning decisions in Wiltshire

How long Wiltshire takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 6,529 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); 49 from receipt
71%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 90% within thirteen
95%approved (UK 90%): 5,728 approved, 312 refused, 356 withdrawn
82 of 388UK rank for speed, down 13 places on last year; 88 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 52 days, 654 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 44 days, 581 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 50 days, 601 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 17 days, 518 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 39 days, 503 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 41 days, 579 decisionsMarApril 2026: 49 days, 610 decisionsAprMay 2026: 53 days, 510 decisionsMayJune 2026: 52 days, 568 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 52 days, 549 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 53 days, 488 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 52 days, 577 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
Tree works3896%99%1,875151 of 324
Householder applications5561%96%1,55299 of 200
Full applications6838%90%854246 of 359
Discharge of conditions5258%97%716136 of 310
Listed building consent5650%96%558124 of 307
Prior approvals2887%85%29997 of 340
Amendments5655%95%234304 of 356
Lawful development certificates5180%85%234145 of 348
Advertisement consent5565%96%73168 of 320
Outline applications *3757%31%649 of 110

Appeals

139 appeals against Wiltshire decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 45 for every 100 refusals; 40% were allowed. Every appeal in Wiltshire.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5376%94%156
2017 *5656%93%225
2018 *5658%88%66
2019 *5450%100%35
2020 *5067%82%280
2021 *5357%86%134
2022 *6041%99%75
2023 *4268%100%36
2024 *4861%96%30
2025 *5654%87%72
2026 so far4971%94%4,902

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

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.