Decision times · North West
How long planning decisions take in Bury
96 days. Ranked 323 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Bury took 96 days from submission to decision — 40 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 53 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Bury compares
Year to September 2026
Bury takes longer than the country as a whole: 40 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 23%.
The average here is 124 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 204 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 12 23%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 12 23%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 29 55%
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.
| Twelve months to | Median days | UK rank |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | 96 | 323 of 343 |
| September 2025 | 60 | 223 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 60 | 196 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 60 | 198 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 60 | 206 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 60 days, Bury has moved down 100 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.
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Full applications 34 decided 105 days
What Bury decides
Year to September 2026
Bury issued 53 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 89% were approvals: 41 granted against 5 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 Bury?
The median planning application decided by Bury in the year to September 2026 took 96 days from submission to decision, 40 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 53 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 323 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Bury meet the eight week target?
23% of the 53 decisions Bury made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 45% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 204 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Bury faster or slower than average?
Bury is slower than average: its median of 96 days is 40 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Bury getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 60 days, Bury has moved down 100 places in the table. Its median has risen by 36 days.
What proportion of applications does Bury approve?
89% of the clear-cut outcomes Bury issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 41 granted against 5 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Bury planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 96 days from application to decision (40 days beyond the eight week target), across 53 decisions with both dates published. 23% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 45% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 204 days. Ranked 323 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 89% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.