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Decision times · Wales

How long planning decisions take in Bridgend

83 days. Ranked 311 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Bridgend took 83 days from submission to decision — 27 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 463 decisions where the council published both dates.

83 days
Median decision 27 days beyond the eight week target
311 of 343
UK rank down 21 places in a year
26%
Within eight weeks 58% within thirteen
196 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Bridgend compares

Year to September 2026

Bridgend takes longer than the country as a whole: 27 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 26%.

The average here is 106 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 196 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 119 26%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 148 32%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 196 42%

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.

Bridgend: 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 83 311 of 343
June 2026 79 302 of 328
March 2026 74 218 of 243
December 2025 63 200 of 236
September 2025 78 290 of 324
June 2025 91 292 of 313
March 2025 91 296 of 315
December 2024 91 301 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 78 days, Bridgend has moved down 21 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. Amendments 21 decided 32 days
  2. Prior approval 11 decided 40 days
  3. Trees 35 decided 55 days
  4. Advertising 11 decided 63 days
  5. Lawful development 25 decided 64 days
  6. Conditions 84 decided 82 days
  7. Full applications 251 decided 98 days

How these types compare nationally

What Bridgend decides

Year to September 2026

Bridgend issued 463 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 88% were approvals: 316 granted against 44 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 Bridgend?

The median planning application decided by Bridgend in the year to September 2026 took 83 days from submission to decision, 27 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 463 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 311 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Bridgend meet the eight week target?

26% of the 463 decisions Bridgend made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 58% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 196 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Bridgend faster or slower than average?

Bridgend is slower than average: its median of 83 days is 27 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is Bridgend getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 78 days, Bridgend has moved down 21 places in the table. Its median has risen by 5 days.

What proportion of applications does Bridgend approve?

88% of the clear-cut outcomes Bridgend issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 316 granted against 44 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Bridgend planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 83 days from application to decision (27 days beyond the eight week target), across 463 decisions with both dates published. 26% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 58% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 196 days. Ranked 311 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 88% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.