Decision times · London
How long planning decisions take in Bexley
56 days. Ranked 139 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Bexley took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,263 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Bexley compares
Year to September 2026
Bexley sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 62%.
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, 82 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 785 62%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 384 30%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 94 7%
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 | 56 | 139 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 56 | 161 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 55 | 141 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 55 | 164 of 236 |
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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Outline 18 decided 21 days
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Amendments 36 decided 28 days
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Telecoms 30 decided 28 days
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Prior approval 77 decided 42 days
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Trees 85 decided 47 days
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Advertising 15 decided 56 days
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Conditions 99 decided 56 days
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Full applications 701 decided 56 days
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Lawful development 191 decided 56 days
What Bexley decides
Year to September 2026
Bexley issued 1,263 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 90% were approvals: 1,051 granted against 118 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 Bexley?
The median planning application decided by Bexley in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,263 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 139 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Bexley meet the eight week target?
62% of the 1,263 decisions Bexley made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 93% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 82 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Bexley faster or slower than average?
Bexley sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.
What proportion of applications does Bexley approve?
90% of the clear-cut outcomes Bexley issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 1,051 granted against 118 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Bexley planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 1,263 decisions with both dates published. 62% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 93% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 82 days. Ranked 139 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 90% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.