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Decision times · London

How long planning decisions take in Barnet

43 days. Ranked 10 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Barnet took 43 days from submission to decision — 13 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,604 decisions where the council published both dates.

43 days
Median decision 13 days inside the eight week target
10 of 343
UK rank down 6 places in a year
81%
Within eight weeks 98% within thirteen
65 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Barnet compares

Year to September 2026

Barnet decides faster than the country as a whole: 13 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 81%.

The average here is 44 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 65 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 1,303 81%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 275 17%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 26 2%

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.

Barnet: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
September 2026 43 10 of 343
June 2026 42 13 of 328
March 2026 42 22 of 243
December 2025 41 33 of 236
September 2025 24 4 of 324

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 24 days, Barnet has moved down 6 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.

  1. Lawful development 281 decided 28 days
  2. Amendments 80 decided 36 days
  3. Prior approval 103 decided 36 days
  4. Conditions 275 decided 42 days
  5. Trees 266 decided 42 days
  6. Advertising 15 decided 54 days
  7. Full applications 139 decided 56 days
  8. Householder 371 decided 56 days
  9. Heritage and listed buildings 26 decided 57 days

How these types compare nationally

What Barnet decides

Year to September 2026

Barnet issued 1,604 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 78% were approvals: 816 granted against 225 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 Barnet?

The median planning application decided by Barnet in the year to September 2026 took 43 days from submission to decision, 13 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,604 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 10 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Barnet meet the eight week target?

81% of the 1,604 decisions Barnet made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 98% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 65 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Barnet faster or slower than average?

Barnet is faster than average: its median of 43 days is 13 days below the national median of 56 days.

Is Barnet getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 24 days, Barnet has moved down 6 places in the table. Its median has risen by 19 days.

What proportion of applications does Barnet approve?

78% of the clear-cut outcomes Barnet issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 816 granted against 225 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Barnet planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 43 days from application to decision (13 days inside the eight week target), across 1,604 decisions with both dates published. 81% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 98% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 65 days. Ranked 10 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 78% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.