Decision times · East of England
How long planning decisions take in Cambridge
52 days. Ranked 64 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Cambridge took 52 days from submission to decision — 4 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 522 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Cambridge compares
Year to September 2026
Cambridge decides faster than the country as a whole: 4 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 68%.
The average here is 66 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 108 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 356 68%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 94 18%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 72 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.
| Twelve months to | Median days | UK rank |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | 52 | 64 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 55 | 138 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 55 | 132 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 55 | 93 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 55 | 97 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 55 | 95 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 55 days, Cambridge has moved up 68 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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Amendments 43 decided 35 days
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Trees 123 decided 38 days
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Prior approval 15 decided 51 days
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Conditions 107 decided 52 days
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Lawful development 23 decided 54 days
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Advertising 16 decided 56 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 36 decided 56 days
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Householder 81 decided 56 days
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Full applications 71 decided 73 days
What Cambridge decides
Year to September 2026
Cambridge issued 522 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 94% were approvals: 376 granted against 23 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 Cambridge?
The median planning application decided by Cambridge in the year to September 2026 took 52 days from submission to decision, 4 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 522 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 64 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Cambridge meet the eight week target?
68% of the 522 decisions Cambridge 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 108 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Cambridge faster or slower than average?
Cambridge is faster than average: its median of 52 days is 4 days below the national median of 56 days.
Is Cambridge getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 55 days, Cambridge has moved up 68 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 3 days.
What proportion of applications does Cambridge approve?
94% of the clear-cut outcomes Cambridge issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 376 granted against 23 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Cambridge planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 52 days from application to decision (4 days inside the eight week target), across 522 decisions with both dates published. 68% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 86% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 108 days. Ranked 64 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 94% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.