Decision times · South East
How long planning decisions take in Chichester
54 days. Ranked 85 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Chichester took 54 days from submission to decision — 2 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 821 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Chichester compares
Year to September 2026
Chichester decides faster than the country as a whole: 2 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 60%.
The average here is 56 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 84 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 496 60%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 273 33%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 52 6%
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 | 54 | 85 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 53 | 89 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 53 | 99 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 52 | 122 of 236 |
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 30 decided 23 days
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Prior approval 49 decided 46 days
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Trees 156 decided 48 days
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Conditions 187 decided 51 days
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Lawful development 38 decided 56 days
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Advertising 11 decided 57 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 46 decided 58 days
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Householder 175 decided 61 days
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Full applications 107 decided 63 days
What Chichester decides
Year to September 2026
Chichester issued 821 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 92% were approvals: 613 granted against 56 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 Chichester?
The median planning application decided by Chichester in the year to September 2026 took 54 days from submission to decision, 2 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 821 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 85 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Chichester meet the eight week target?
60% of the 821 decisions Chichester made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 94% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 84 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Chichester faster or slower than average?
Chichester is faster than average: its median of 54 days is 2 days below the national median of 56 days.
What proportion of applications does Chichester approve?
92% of the clear-cut outcomes Chichester issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 613 granted against 56 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Chichester planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 54 days from application to decision (2 days inside the eight week target), across 821 decisions with both dates published. 60% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 94% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 84 days. Ranked 85 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 92% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.