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Decision times · Wales

How long planning decisions take in Carmarthenshire

53 days. Ranked 73 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Carmarthenshire took 53 days from submission to decision — 3 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,045 decisions where the council published both dates.

53 days
Median decision 3 days inside the eight week target
73 of 343
UK rank up 123 places in a year
55%
Within eight weeks 78% within thirteen
137 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Carmarthenshire compares

Year to September 2026

Carmarthenshire decides faster than the country as a whole: 3 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 55%.

The average here is 73 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 137 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 571 55%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 242 23%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 232 22%

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.

Carmarthenshire: 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 53 73 of 343
June 2026 50 55 of 328
March 2026 47 41 of 243
December 2025 41 34 of 236
September 2025 57 196 of 324
June 2025 71 266 of 313
March 2025 72 271 of 315
December 2024 71 275 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 57 days, Carmarthenshire has moved up 123 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. Prior approval 69 decided 20 days
  2. Trees 36 decided 24 days
  3. Outline 27 decided 29 days
  4. Amendments 122 decided 34 days
  5. Other 11 decided 37 days
  6. Lawful development 73 decided 40 days
  7. Conditions 98 decided 49 days
  8. Advertising 21 decided 55 days
  9. Householder 215 decided 58 days
  10. Heritage and listed buildings 27 decided 70 days
  11. Full applications 335 decided 77 days

How these types compare nationally

What Carmarthenshire decides

Year to September 2026

Carmarthenshire issued 1,045 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 83% were approvals: 828 granted against 167 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 Carmarthenshire?

The median planning application decided by Carmarthenshire in the year to September 2026 took 53 days from submission to decision, 3 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,045 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 73 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Carmarthenshire meet the eight week target?

55% of the 1,045 decisions Carmarthenshire made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 78% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 137 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Carmarthenshire faster or slower than average?

Carmarthenshire is faster than average: its median of 53 days is 3 days below the national median of 56 days.

Is Carmarthenshire getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 57 days, Carmarthenshire has moved up 123 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 4 days.

What proportion of applications does Carmarthenshire approve?

83% of the clear-cut outcomes Carmarthenshire issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 828 granted against 167 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Carmarthenshire planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 53 days from application to decision (3 days inside the eight week target), across 1,045 decisions with both dates published. 55% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 78% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 137 days. Ranked 73 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 83% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.