Decision times · South West
How long planning decisions take in Bristol, City of
56 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Bristol, City of took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,645 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 Bristol, City of compares
Year to December 2026
Bristol, City of decides faster than the country as a whole: 1 day below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 52%.
The average here is 71 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 124 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 857 52%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 491 30%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 297 18%
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 129 decided 53 days
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Advertising 18 decided 54 days
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Conditions 204 decided 55 days
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Householder 390 decided 56 days
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Lawful development 115 decided 56 days
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Outline 50 decided 56 days
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Trees 336 decided 56 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 49 decided 69 days
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Full applications 217 decided 81 days
What Bristol, City of decides
Year to December 2026
Bristol, City of issued 1,645 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 93% were approvals: 1,378 granted against 98 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 Bristol, City of?
The median planning application decided by Bristol, City of in the year to December 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,645 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Bristol, City of meet the eight week target?
52% of the 1,645 decisions Bristol, City of made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 82% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 124 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Bristol, City of faster or slower than average?
Bristol, City of is faster than average: its median of 56 days is 1 day below the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Bristol, City of approve?
93% of the clear-cut outcomes Bristol, City of issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 1,378 granted against 98 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
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Bristol, City of planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 1,645 decisions with both dates published. 52% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 82% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 124 days. 93% 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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<p>Data: <a href="https://planindex.co.uk/planning-decision-times/bristol-city-of">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>