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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in Adur

60 days. Ranked 28 of 45.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Adur took 60 days from submission to decision — 4 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,099 decisions where the council published both dates.

60 days
Median decision 4 days beyond the eight week target
28 of 45
UK rank down 20 places in a year
45%
Within eight weeks 77% within thirteen
139 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Adur compares

Year to December 2026

Adur takes longer than the country as a whole: 3 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 45%.

The average here is 81 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 139 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 490 45%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 359 33%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 250 23%

The last few years

Each row is a full twelve months of decisions, ending in the quarter shown

Rolling twelve month windows overlap by nine months, so this reads as a trend rather than as four separate quarters. Only windows our records reach far enough back to measure in full are listed.

Adur: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
December 2026 60 28 of 45
September 2026 57 35 of 56
June 2026 57 29 of 39
March 2026 56 17 of 38
December 2025 56 8 of 24
September 2025 56 9 of 27
June 2025 56 10 of 31
March 2025 56 10 of 30
December 2024 56 25 of 57

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 56 days, Adur has moved down 20 places in the table.

By type of application

Year to December 2026 · types with at least ten decisions

The headline median mixes every kind of application together. A householder extension and an outline application for a housing site are not the same job, and the difference between them is usually larger than the difference between two councils.

  1. Lawful development 14 decided 64 days
  2. Householder 62 decided 79 days
  3. Trees 56 decided 101 days
  4. Full applications 41 decided 125 days
  5. Conditions 20 decided 136 days

How these types compare nationally

What Adur decides

Year to December 2026

Adur issued 1,099 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 77% were approvals: 277 granted against 82 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes sit outside that percentage rather than being counted as either.

Speed and approval rate are separate things. A council that refuses quickly is not doing the same job as one that negotiates an approval slowly, and neither figure alone says which served the applicant better.

Common questions

How long does a planning decision take in Adur?

The median planning application decided by Adur in the year to December 2026 took 60 days from submission to decision, 4 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,099 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 28 of 45 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Adur meet the eight week target?

45% of the 1,099 decisions Adur made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 77% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 139 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Adur faster or slower than average?

Adur is slower than average: its median of 60 days is 3 days above the national median of 57 days.

Is Adur getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 56 days, Adur has moved down 20 places in the table. Its median has risen by 4 days.

What proportion of applications does Adur approve?

77% of the clear-cut outcomes Adur issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 277 granted against 82 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Adur planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 60 days from application to decision (4 days beyond the eight week target), across 1,099 decisions with both dates published. 45% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 77% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 139 days. Ranked 28 of 45 UK councils on decision speed (national median 57 days). 77% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.

Or take the data itself: this council's history (CSV) or the full league table (CSV).

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