Decision times · Yorkshire and The Humber
How long planning decisions take in Barnsley
68 days. Ranked 271 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Barnsley took 68 days from submission to decision — 12 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 274 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Barnsley compares
Year to September 2026
Barnsley takes longer than the country as a whole: 12 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 38%.
The average here is 96 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 192 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 104 38%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 82 30%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 88 32%
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 | 68 | 271 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 73 | 289 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 76 | 286 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 75 | 273 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 76 | 281 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 75 | 285 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 76 days, Barnsley has moved up 15 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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Prior approval 14 decided 40 days
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Lawful development 18 decided 51 days
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Amendments 16 decided 63 days
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Householder 95 decided 63 days
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Conditions 26 decided 64 days
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Full applications 64 decided 94 days
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Trees 16 decided 115 days
What Barnsley decides
Year to September 2026
Barnsley issued 274 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 93% were approvals: 256 granted against 18 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 Barnsley?
The median planning application decided by Barnsley in the year to September 2026 took 68 days from submission to decision, 12 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 274 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 271 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Barnsley meet the eight week target?
38% of the 274 decisions Barnsley made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 68% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 192 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Barnsley faster or slower than average?
Barnsley is slower than average: its median of 68 days is 12 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Barnsley getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 76 days, Barnsley has moved up 15 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 8 days.
What proportion of applications does Barnsley approve?
93% of the clear-cut outcomes Barnsley issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 256 granted against 18 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Barnsley planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 68 days from application to decision (12 days beyond the eight week target), across 274 decisions with both dates published. 38% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 68% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 192 days. Ranked 271 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 93% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.