We’ve all heard horror stories about waiting for planning permission. It can severely slow down a project while your Local Planning Authority (LPA) consider your application.
Many home improvements can avoid planning permission entirely by building under Permitted Development (hint: if at all possible, do this). However, some projects do need planning permission, especially if they’re over one storey, or on a tricky plot.
But what is the usual wait? And how does it vary across the country? I took the latest data from Jan-March 2024 and did the maths.
How long does planning permission take?
For non-major decisions, Local Planning Authorities have a deadline of 8 weeks. However, that target is only hit in 50.4% of cases across England.
‘Non-major’ is the vast majority of planning applications, by the way. ‘Major’ decisions usually apply to big developments of over 10 houses, and have a deadline of 13 weeks. This target is only hit 18.9% of the time across England.
Where in England is planning permission granted the fastest?
The timeline of planning permission varies dramatically by your LPA. This is how it breaks down by region:
| Region | Total non-Major Planning Decisions | % within 8 week deadline |
| South East | 12,976 | 55% |
| London | 11,354 | 54% |
| East of England | 8,796 | 52% |
| West Midlands | 5,504 | 52% |
| National Parks | 1,217 | 49% |
| East Midlands | 5,096 | 48% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 5,209 | 48% |
| North East | 1,811 | 47% |
| North West | 6,716 | 45% |
| South West | 8,607 | 44% |
| England | 67,286 | 50% |
However, there are over 300 LPAs, and the figures range from 5% to 91%. Here are the best ten LPAs in the UK for speed of planning decisions:
| LPA | % within 8 week deadline |
| Arun | 91.40% |
| Watford | 87.12% |
| Sutton | 85.19% |
| Castle Point | 84.26% |
| Chelmsford | 84.11% |
| Three Rivers | 81.82% |
| Tunbridge Wells | 80.41% |
| Barking and Dagenham | 80.33% |
| Enfield | 79.89% |
| Surrey Heath | 77.69% |
And here are the bottom 10 LPAs, according to Jan-March 2024 data:
| LPA | % within 8 week deadline |
| West Northamptonshire | 5.52% |
| Cheshire West and Chester | 7.19% |
| London Legacy Development Corporation 4 | 7.69% |
| Melton | 8.82% |
| Knowsley | 9.09% |
| St Albans | 9.90% |
| Camden | 11.07% |
| Bristol, City of | 11.73% |
| Exmoor National Park | 12.00% |
| Crawley | 13.11% |
How long do planning appeals take?
The application is only the first stage of getting planning permission. If it’s granted, fantastic. If not, you might want to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. As of June 2024, appeals take 26 weeks on average and the success rate is only 28%.
The planning inspectorate release all their figures here, and to be fair, the time has been coming down over the last year.
