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Decision times · East of England

How long planning decisions take in Babergh

54 days.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Babergh took 54 days from submission to decision — 2 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 2,724 decisions where the council published both dates.

This council carries a figure but no rank

Not ranked yet: our records do not yet pass the historical coverage, monthly continuity, missing-date and refresh checks for this window. The figure above is still what the published dates say; it is left out of the league table so it cannot distort the ranking. See the methodology.

54 days
Median decision 2 days inside the eight week target
57%
Within eight weeks 86% within thirteen
106 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Babergh compares

Year to December 2026

Babergh decides faster than the country as a whole: 3 days below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 57%.

The average here is 60 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 106 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 1,547 57%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 805 30%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 372 14%

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. Amendments 124 decided 25 days
  2. Other 52 decided 26 days
  3. Trees 361 decided 30 days
  4. Conditions 825 decided 49 days
  5. Prior approval 65 decided 54 days
  6. Advertising 26 decided 56 days
  7. Heritage and listed buildings 274 decided 57 days
  8. Lawful development 87 decided 57 days
  9. Outline 28 decided 57 days
  10. Reserved matters 17 decided 60 days
  11. Householder 483 decided 64 days
  12. Full applications 264 decided 78 days

How these types compare nationally

What Babergh decides

Year to December 2026

Babergh issued 2,724 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 93% were approvals: 2,292 granted against 176 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 Babergh?

The median planning application decided by Babergh in the year to December 2026 took 54 days from submission to decision, 2 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 2,724 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.

Does Babergh meet the eight week target?

57% of the 2,724 decisions Babergh made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 86% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 106 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Babergh faster or slower than average?

Babergh is faster than average: its median of 54 days is 3 days below the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does Babergh approve?

93% of the clear-cut outcomes Babergh issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 2,292 granted against 176 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Babergh planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 54 days from application to decision (2 days inside the eight week target), across 2,724 decisions with both dates published. 57% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 86% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 106 days. 93% 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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