Decision times · East Midlands
How long planning decisions take in Amber Valley
57 days. Ranked 192 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Amber Valley took 57 days from submission to decision — 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 183 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Amber Valley compares
Year to September 2026
Amber Valley takes longer than the country as a whole: 1 day above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 48%.
The average here is 95 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 196 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 88 48%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 48 26%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 47 26%
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.
| Twelve months to | Median days | UK rank |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | 57 | 192 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 43 | 20 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 61 | 230 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 61 | 202 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 61 | 207 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 61 | 215 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 61 days, Amber Valley has moved up 38 places in the table.
By type of application
Year to September 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.
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Trees 34 decided 29 days
Common questions
How long does a planning decision take in Amber Valley?
The median planning application decided by Amber Valley in the year to September 2026 took 57 days from submission to decision, 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 183 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 192 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Amber Valley meet the eight week target?
48% of the 183 decisions Amber Valley made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 74% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 196 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Amber Valley faster or slower than average?
Amber Valley is slower than average: its median of 57 days is 1 day above the national median of 56 days.
Is Amber Valley getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 61 days, Amber Valley has moved up 38 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 4 days.
Cite these figures
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Amber Valley planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 57 days from application to decision (1 day beyond the eight week target), across 183 decisions with both dates published. 48% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 74% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 196 days. Ranked 192 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.