Decision times · Wales
How long planning decisions take in Cardiff
55 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Cardiff took 55 days from submission to decision — 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,797 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 Cardiff compares
Year to December 2026
Cardiff decides faster than the country as a whole: 2 days below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 53%.
The average here is 101 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 219 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 957 53%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 308 17%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 532 30%
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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Trees 147 decided 10 days
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Lawful development 157 decided 22 days
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Advertising 81 decided 38 days
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Prior approval 23 decided 44 days
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Amendments 170 decided 47 days
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Householder 502 decided 59 days
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Conditions 273 decided 69 days
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Full applications 372 decided 85 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 56 decided 111 days
What Cardiff decides
Year to December 2026
Cardiff issued 1,797 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 94% were approvals: 1,621 granted against 97 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 Cardiff?
The median planning application decided by Cardiff in the year to December 2026 took 55 days from submission to decision, 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,797 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Cardiff meet the eight week target?
53% of the 1,797 decisions Cardiff made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 70% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 219 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Cardiff faster or slower than average?
Cardiff is faster than average: its median of 55 days is 2 days below the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Cardiff approve?
94% of the clear-cut outcomes Cardiff issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 1,621 granted against 97 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Cardiff planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 55 days from application to decision (1 day inside the eight week target), across 1,797 decisions with both dates published. 53% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 70% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 219 days. 94% 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/cardiff">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>