Planning decisions in Wokingham

How long Wokingham takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 267 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); 42 from receipt
91%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 100% within thirteen
93%approved (UK 89%): 237 approved, 18 refused, 4 withdrawn
42 of 321UK rank for speed, up 69 places on last year; 124 of 321 for approvals
05691 August 2025: 55 days, 196 decisionsAugSeptember 2025: 56 days, 217 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 59 days, 205 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 55 days, 202 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 55 days, 179 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 63 days, 209 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 60 days, 106 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 108 days, 52 decisionsMarApril 2026: 151 days, 10 decisionsAprJune 2026: 25 days, 18 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 38 days, 104 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 46 days, 145 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
Tree works4189%95%45157 of 259
Amendments24100%81%2829 of 263
Lawful development certificates *5494%82%17163 of 253

Appeals

38 appeals against Wokingham decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 211 for every 100 refusals; 24% were allowed. Every appeal in Wokingham.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5652%92%48
2017 *5554%95%44
2018 *3677%94%283
2019 *6945%93%60
2020 *3985%81%258
2021 *5850%96%51
2022 *2883%96%412
2023 *5055%97%128
2024 *5652%90%63
2025 *5650%83%230
2026 so far4293%93%267

* Years from our archive, which carries no validation date: timed from receipt, so a few days longer than the live years above them.

Decided in the last three weeks

Built nightly from Wokingham's planning register. Ranks are among the 321 published councils. See planning applications in Wokingham, appeals, or get alerts for Wokingham.

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.