Decision times · East Midlands
How long planning decisions take in Boston
49 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Boston took 49 days from submission to decision — 7 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 134 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 Boston compares
Year to December 2026
Boston decides faster than the country as a whole: 8 days below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 78%.
The average here is 47 days. For planning around, 64 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 105 78%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 29 22%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 0 0%
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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Amendments 18 decided 29 days
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Trees 12 decided 38 days
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Conditions 27 decided 40 days
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Full applications 51 decided 56 days
What Boston decides
Year to December 2026
Boston issued 134 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 100% were approvals: 43 granted against 0 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 Boston?
The median planning application decided by Boston in the year to December 2026 took 49 days from submission to decision, 7 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 134 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Boston meet the eight week target?
78% of the 134 decisions Boston made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 100% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 64 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Boston faster or slower than average?
Boston is faster than average: its median of 49 days is 8 days below the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Boston approve?
100% of the clear-cut outcomes Boston issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 43 granted against 0 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
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Boston planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 49 days from application to decision (7 days inside the eight week target), across 134 decisions with both dates published. 78% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 100% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 64 days. 100% 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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