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Decision times · North West

How long planning decisions take in Cumberland

56 days.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Cumberland took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,454 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 78% within thirteen
143 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Cumberland compares

Year to December 2026

Cumberland 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 77 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 143 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 777 53%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 361 25%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 316 22%

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. Telecoms 26 decided 6 days
  2. Prior approval 73 decided 26 days
  3. Other 68 decided 31 days
  4. Trees 168 decided 50 days
  5. Outline 55 decided 55 days
  6. Amendments 114 decided 56 days
  7. Conditions 159 decided 56 days
  8. Advertising 43 decided 57 days
  9. Householder 259 decided 57 days
  10. Lawful development 32 decided 58 days
  11. Heritage and listed buildings 78 decided 76 days
  12. Full applications 262 decided 77 days

How these types compare nationally

What Cumberland decides

Year to December 2026

Cumberland issued 1,454 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 98% were approvals: 1,319 granted against 33 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 Cumberland?

The median planning application decided by Cumberland in the year to December 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,454 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.

Does Cumberland meet the eight week target?

53% of the 1,454 decisions Cumberland made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 78% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 143 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Cumberland faster or slower than average?

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

What proportion of applications does Cumberland approve?

98% of the clear-cut outcomes Cumberland issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 1,319 granted against 33 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Cumberland planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 1,454 decisions with both dates published. 53% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 78% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 143 days. 98% 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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