Decision times · North West
How long planning decisions take in Blackpool
62 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Blackpool took 62 days from submission to decision — 6 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 150 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.
How Blackpool compares
Year to December 2026
Blackpool takes longer than the country as a whole: 5 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 46%.
The average here is 90 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 172 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 69 46%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 44 29%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 37 25%
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.
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Full applications 29 decided 70 days
What Blackpool decides
Year to December 2026
Blackpool issued 150 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 79% were approvals: 60 granted against 16 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 Blackpool?
The median planning application decided by Blackpool in the year to December 2026 took 62 days from submission to decision, 6 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 150 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Blackpool meet the eight week target?
46% of the 150 decisions Blackpool made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 75% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 172 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Blackpool faster or slower than average?
Blackpool is slower than average: its median of 62 days is 5 days above the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Blackpool approve?
79% of the clear-cut outcomes Blackpool issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 60 granted against 16 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Blackpool planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 62 days from application to decision (6 days beyond the eight week target), across 150 decisions with both dates published. 46% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 75% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 172 days. 79% 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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