How long does planning permission take?
Approval odds and waiting times are local facts, not national ones. The same extension can sail through one council in a month and sit for half a year in the next, so check your own council's real record before you plan your timeline. We hold 453,035 decisions published over the last 24 months across 356 planning authorities here. The median application was decided in 56 days, and 54% were decided within 8 weeks of the date the register records receiving them. 91% of decided applications were approved. Data as of 2026-07-17.
What is your council's real record?
Start typing a council or planning authority name. Every figure comes from the decisions published on its planning register over the last 24 months.
Type at least two letters to find your council.
The official decision periods
The statutory time limits are 8 weeks for most applications, 13 weeks for major development and 16 weeks where an Environmental Impact Assessment applies, under article 34 of the Development Management Procedure Order 2015. Government policy adds that no application should spend more than a year with decision makers, including any appeal.
GOV.UK: Determining a planning application (MHCLG guidance) (opens in new tab)Planning authorities aim to decide local developments within 2 months and major developments within 4 months. If the decision takes longer, you can appeal.
mygov.scot: Planning permission, what happens next (opens in new tab)The determination period is 8 weeks from the date the local planning authority received a valid application, under article 22 of the Development Management Procedure (Wales) Order 2012.
Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Wales) Order 2012, article 22 (opens in new tab)The council should decide your application within 8 weeks, though large or complex applications can take longer. If it is not determined within 8 weeks you can appeal to the Planning Appeals Commission.
nidirect: Making a planning decision (opens in new tab)Our figures describe published register data. For the government's own quarterly measure, see the Official quarterly planning application statistics for England (MHCLG) (opens in new tab), which counts decisions made within an agreed extension of time as on time.
The spread is real
- Eastbourne · 5 days
- Edinburgh · 26 days
- Fareham · 30 days
- Oxford · 30 days
- New Forest National Park Authority · 34 days
- Newry Mourne Down · 205 days
- Lisburn and Castlereagh · 141 days
- Armagh Banbridge Craigavon · 111 days
- Belfast · 104 days
- Mid Ulster · 100 days
Authorities with at least 250 decisions in the window. Medians are elapsed register days, not the official on-time measure.
What each number means
Decisions
Approved plus refused decisions published on the council's planning register in the period shown. It counts what the register we read published, which can be less than everything the council handled.
Approval rate
The share of decided applications that were approved. Withdrawn applications sit outside this number: withdrawing is the applicant's act, not the council's decision.
Median decision time
The middle application, measured in days from the date the register says the council received it to the date it decided it. Half were faster, half slower. Councils and applicants can lawfully agree more time, so elapsed days beyond a target are not automatically a breach of it.
Decided within 8 weeks
The share of dated decisions made within 56 days of the received date on the register. 8 weeks is the decision period most standard applications start with; agreed extensions can lawfully move it.
Withdrawn
Applications the applicant withdrew before a decision. Shown separately and never counted in the approval rate.
Planning a project?
Check whether you need planning permission at all, see approval odds for your kind of project, or find architects with a real approval track record.
Common questions
How long does planning permission take?
Across the 453,035 decisions published on the planning registers we track here over the last 24 months, The median application was decided in 56 days, and 54% were decided within 8 weeks of the date the register records receiving them. Your own council can be much faster or much slower, which is what this tool shows.
What share of planning applications get approved?
91% of the decided applications we hold here were approved (410,978 of 453,035). That blends every application type, from tree works to full applications, so check the type table for the work you have in mind. Withdrawn applications sit outside these numbers.
Is my council slower than others?
The register data shows real spread between authorities. Look yours up above, or open its full page for nearby comparisons. Remember the honest caveat: councils and applicants can lawfully agree extensions of time, so elapsed days beyond a target are not automatically a breach of it.
Where do these numbers come from?
These figures are computed from the planning register entries we hold for each council, refreshed continuously from the public registers. They describe published register data, not the council's official performance statistics, and coverage per council can differ from the register's own totals. Always confirm requirements for your own project with your council before applying. Data as of 2026-07-17.
These figures are computed from the planning register entries we hold for each council, refreshed continuously from the public registers. They describe published register data, not the council's official performance statistics, and coverage per council can differ from the register's own totals. Always confirm requirements for your own project with your council before applying.
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