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Decision times · East of England

How long planning decisions take in Chelmsford

55 days. Ranked 110 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Chelmsford took 55 days from submission to decision — 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 627 decisions where the council published both dates.

55 days
Median decision 1 day inside the eight week target
110 of 343
UK rank down 1 place in a year
64%
Within eight weeks 88% within thirteen
112 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Chelmsford compares

Year to September 2026

Chelmsford decides faster than the country as a whole: 1 day below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 64%.

The average here is 79 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 112 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 401 64%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 151 24%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 75 12%

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.

Chelmsford: 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 55 110 of 343
June 2026 55 131 of 328
March 2026 54 124 of 243
December 2025 54 148 of 236
September 2025 53 109 of 324
June 2025 52 49 of 313
March 2025 52 49 of 315
December 2024 51 45 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 53 days, Chelmsford has moved down 1 place 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. Trees 70 decided 39 days
  2. Heritage and listed buildings 15 decided 53 days
  3. Advertising 14 decided 55 days
  4. Amendments 35 decided 55 days
  5. Conditions 94 decided 55 days
  6. Outline 64 decided 55 days
  7. Full applications 311 decided 56 days

How these types compare nationally

What Chelmsford decides

Year to September 2026

Chelmsford issued 627 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 87% were approvals: 530 granted against 76 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 Chelmsford?

The median planning application decided by Chelmsford in the year to September 2026 took 55 days from submission to decision, 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 627 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 110 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Chelmsford meet the eight week target?

64% of the 627 decisions Chelmsford made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 88% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 112 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Chelmsford faster or slower than average?

Chelmsford is faster than average: its median of 55 days is 1 day below the national median of 56 days.

Is Chelmsford getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 53 days, Chelmsford has moved down 1 place in the table. Its median has risen by 2 days.

What proportion of applications does Chelmsford approve?

87% of the clear-cut outcomes Chelmsford issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 530 granted against 76 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Chelmsford planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 55 days from application to decision (1 day inside the eight week target), across 627 decisions with both dates published. 64% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 88% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 112 days. Ranked 110 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 87% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.