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Decision times · North West

How long planning decisions take in Cumberland

56 days. Ranked 133 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Cumberland took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,642 decisions where the council published both dates.

56 days
Median decision exactly the eight week target
133 of 343
UK rank down 89 places in a year
56%
Within eight weeks 82% within thirteen
129 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Cumberland compares

Year to September 2026

Cumberland sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 56%.

The average here is 70 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 129 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 925 56%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 420 26%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 297 18%

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.

Cumberland: 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 56 133 of 343
June 2026 55 123 of 328
March 2026 54 119 of 243
December 2025 49 91 of 236
September 2025 44 44 of 324
June 2025 47 24 of 313
March 2025 47 22 of 315
December 2024 47 24 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 44 days, Cumberland has moved down 89 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. Telecoms 22 decided 16 days
  2. Prior approval 76 decided 27 days
  3. Other 88 decided 30 days
  4. Outline 68 decided 46 days
  5. Trees 193 decided 47 days
  6. Conditions 168 decided 53 days
  7. Lawful development 43 decided 53 days
  8. Amendments 135 decided 56 days
  9. Advertising 49 decided 57 days
  10. Householder 283 decided 57 days
  11. Full applications 285 decided 65 days
  12. Heritage and listed buildings 92 decided 66 days

How these types compare nationally

What Cumberland decides

Year to September 2026

Cumberland issued 1,642 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 98% were approvals: 1,485 granted against 31 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 September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,642 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 133 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Cumberland meet the eight week target?

56% of the 1,642 decisions Cumberland made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 82% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 129 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 sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.

Is Cumberland getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 44 days, Cumberland has moved down 89 places in the table. Its median has risen by 12 days.

What proportion of applications does Cumberland approve?

98% of the clear-cut outcomes Cumberland issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 1,485 granted against 31 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 September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 1,642 decisions with both dates published. 56% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 82% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 129 days. Ranked 133 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 98% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.