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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in Dartford

56 days. Ranked 154 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Dartford took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 808 decisions where the council published both dates.

56 days
Median decision exactly the eight week target
154 of 343
UK rank up 60 places in a year
55%
Within eight weeks 86% within thirteen
103 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Dartford compares

Year to September 2026

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

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, 103 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 441 55%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 256 32%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 111 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.

Dartford: 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 56 154 of 343
June 2026 56 167 of 328
March 2026 56 167 of 243
December 2025 56 174 of 236
September 2025 59 214 of 324
June 2025 63 220 of 313
March 2025 62 215 of 315
December 2024 62 223 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 59 days, Dartford has moved up 60 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. Outline 32 decided 24 days
  2. Trees 69 decided 44 days
  3. Advertising 27 decided 54 days
  4. Lawful development 97 decided 55 days
  5. Full applications 342 decided 58 days
  6. Conditions 142 decided 65 days
  7. Amendments 37 decided 69 days
  8. Heritage and listed buildings 11 decided 99 days

How these types compare nationally

What Dartford decides

Year to September 2026

Dartford issued 808 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 78% were approvals: 532 granted against 154 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 September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 808 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 154 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Dartford meet the eight week target?

55% of the 808 decisions Dartford made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 86% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 103 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 sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.

Is Dartford getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 59 days, Dartford has moved up 60 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 3 days.

What proportion of applications does Dartford approve?

78% of the clear-cut outcomes Dartford issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 532 granted against 154 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Dartford planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 808 decisions with both dates published. 55% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 86% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 103 days. Ranked 154 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 78% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.