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Decision times · South West

How long planning decisions take in Cheltenham

46 days. Ranked 17 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Cheltenham took 46 days from submission to decision — 10 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,317 decisions where the council published both dates.

46 days
Median decision 10 days inside the eight week target
17 of 343
UK rank up 8 places in a year
65%
Within eight weeks 88% within thirteen
104 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Cheltenham compares

Year to September 2026

Cheltenham decides faster than the country as a whole: 10 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 65%.

The average here is 53 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 104 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 851 65%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 303 23%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 163 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.

Cheltenham: 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 46 17 of 343
June 2026 39 8 of 328
March 2026 34 4 of 243
December 2025 25 3 of 236
September 2025 36 25 of 324
June 2025 43 11 of 313
March 2025 43 11 of 315
December 2024 43 13 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 36 days, Cheltenham has moved up 8 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. Trees 82 decided 4 days
  2. Heritage and listed buildings 359 decided 7 days
  3. Amendments 86 decided 26 days
  4. Conditions 130 decided 36 days
  5. Lawful development 73 decided 36 days
  6. Outline 13 decided 41 days
  7. Advertising 27 decided 55 days
  8. Full applications 539 decided 57 days

How these types compare nationally

What Cheltenham decides

Year to September 2026

Cheltenham issued 1,317 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 97% were approvals: 977 granted against 27 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 Cheltenham?

The median planning application decided by Cheltenham in the year to September 2026 took 46 days from submission to decision, 10 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,317 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 17 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Cheltenham meet the eight week target?

65% of the 1,317 decisions Cheltenham 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 104 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Cheltenham faster or slower than average?

Cheltenham is faster than average: its median of 46 days is 10 days below the national median of 56 days.

Is Cheltenham getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 36 days, Cheltenham has moved up 8 places in the table. Its median has risen by 10 days.

What proportion of applications does Cheltenham approve?

97% of the clear-cut outcomes Cheltenham issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 977 granted against 27 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Cheltenham planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 46 days from application to decision (10 days inside the eight week target), across 1,317 decisions with both dates published. 65% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 88% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 104 days. Ranked 17 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 97% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.