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Decision times · London

How long planning decisions take in Croydon

56 days.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Croydon took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,091 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.

56 days
Median decision exactly the eight week target
53%
Within eight weeks 77% within thirteen
169 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Croydon compares

Year to December 2026

Croydon decides faster than the country as a whole: 1 day below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 53%.

The average here is 93 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 169 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 575 53%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 262 24%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 254 23%

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.

  1. Amendments 37 decided 27 days
  2. Trees 102 decided 33 days
  3. Conditions 129 decided 56 days
  4. Advertising 23 decided 64 days
  5. Householder 259 decided 66 days
  6. Full applications 223 decided 96 days

How these types compare nationally

What Croydon decides

Year to December 2026

Croydon issued 1,091 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 86% were approvals: 442 granted against 70 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 Croydon?

The median planning application decided by Croydon in the year to December 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,091 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.

Does Croydon meet the eight week target?

53% of the 1,091 decisions Croydon made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 77% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 169 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Croydon faster or slower than average?

Croydon is faster than average: its median of 56 days is 1 day below the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does Croydon approve?

86% of the clear-cut outcomes Croydon issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 442 granted against 70 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Croydon planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 1,091 decisions with both dates published. 53% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 77% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 169 days. 86% 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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