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Decision times · London

How long planning decisions take in Brent

56 days. Ranked 124 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Brent took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 2,203 decisions where the council published both dates.

56 days
Median decision exactly the eight week target
124 of 343
UK rank up 48 places in a year
51%
Within eight weeks 86% within thirteen
101 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Brent compares

Year to September 2026

Brent sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 51%.

The average here is 64 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 101 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 1,127 51%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 773 35%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 303 14%

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.

Brent: 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 56 124 of 343
June 2026 56 150 of 328
March 2026 56 154 of 243
December 2025 55 158 of 236
September 2025 56 172 of 324
June 2025 60 188 of 313
March 2025 60 192 of 315
December 2024 59 186 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 56 days, Brent has moved up 48 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. Prior approval 172 decided 32 days
  2. Trees 121 decided 41 days
  3. Amendments 110 decided 55 days
  4. Advertising 39 decided 56 days
  5. Conditions 172 decided 56 days
  6. Heritage and listed buildings 11 decided 56 days
  7. Lawful development 301 decided 56 days
  8. Outline 11 decided 56 days
  9. Householder 553 decided 64 days
  10. Full applications 614 decided 69 days

How these types compare nationally

What Brent decides

Year to September 2026

Brent issued 2,203 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 79% were approvals: 1,655 granted against 439 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 Brent?

The median planning application decided by Brent in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 2,203 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 124 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Brent meet the eight week target?

51% of the 2,203 decisions Brent made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 86% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 101 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Brent faster or slower than average?

Brent sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.

Is Brent getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 56 days, Brent has moved up 48 places in the table. Its median has not changed.

What proportion of applications does Brent approve?

79% of the clear-cut outcomes Brent issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 1,655 granted against 439 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Brent planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 2,203 decisions with both dates published. 51% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 86% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 101 days. Ranked 124 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 79% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.