Decision times · South East
How long planning decisions take in Dartford
56 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Dartford took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 850 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.
How Dartford compares
Year to December 2026
Dartford 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 55%.
The average here is 74 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.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 471 55%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 262 31%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 117 14%
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 | 56 | 26 of 56 |
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.
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Outline 25 decided 25 days
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Trees 68 decided 45 days
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Advertising 28 decided 54 days
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Lawful development 91 decided 54 days
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Full applications 361 decided 57 days
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Conditions 110 decided 69 days
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Amendments 30 decided 85 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 12 decided 97 days
What Dartford decides
Year to December 2026
Dartford issued 850 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 78% were approvals: 632 granted against 178 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 Dartford?
The median planning application decided by Dartford in the year to December 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 850 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Dartford meet the eight week target?
55% of the 850 decisions Dartford made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 86% 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 Dartford faster or slower than average?
Dartford is faster than average: its median of 56 days is 1 day below the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Dartford approve?
78% of the clear-cut outcomes Dartford issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 632 granted against 178 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Dartford planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 850 decisions with both dates published. 55% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 86% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 104 days. 78% 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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<p>Data: <a href="https://planindex.co.uk/planning-decision-times/dartford">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>