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Decision times · East Midlands

How long planning decisions take in Derby

61 days.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Derby took 61 days from submission to decision — 5 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 563 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.

61 days
Median decision 5 days beyond the eight week target
44%
Within eight weeks 74% within thirteen
153 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Derby compares

Year to December 2026

Derby takes longer than the country as a whole: 4 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 44%.

The average here is 90 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 153 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 247 44%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 171 30%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 145 26%

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.

Derby: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
June 2026 66 36 of 39
March 2025 59 18 of 30

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. Prior approval 15 decided 36 days
  2. Lawful development 37 decided 53 days
  3. Advertising 24 decided 57 days
  4. Trees 41 decided 62 days
  5. Conditions 71 decided 67 days
  6. Full applications 286 decided 67 days
  7. Amendments 36 decided 77 days
  8. Heritage and listed buildings 10 decided 96 days

How these types compare nationally

What Derby decides

Year to December 2026

Derby issued 563 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 92% were approvals: 504 granted against 45 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 Derby?

The median planning application decided by Derby in the year to December 2026 took 61 days from submission to decision, 5 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 563 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.

Does Derby meet the eight week target?

44% of the 563 decisions Derby made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 74% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 153 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Derby faster or slower than average?

Derby is slower than average: its median of 61 days is 4 days above the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does Derby approve?

92% of the clear-cut outcomes Derby issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 504 granted against 45 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Derby planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 61 days from application to decision (5 days beyond the eight week target), across 563 decisions with both dates published. 44% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 74% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 153 days. 92% 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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