Decision times · East of England
How long planning decisions take in East Cambridgeshire
55 days. Ranked 117 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by East Cambridgeshire took 55 days from submission to decision — 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 274 decisions where the council published both dates.
How East Cambridgeshire compares
Year to September 2026
East Cambridgeshire decides faster than the country as a whole: 1 day below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 60%.
The average here is 78 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 120 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 164 60%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 60 22%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 50 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.
| Twelve months to | Median days | UK rank |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | 55 | 117 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 55 | 142 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 55 | 139 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 55 | 101 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 55 | 104 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 55 | 102 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 55 days, East Cambridgeshire has moved up 22 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.
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Trees 58 decided 36 days
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Amendments 23 decided 49 days
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Conditions 73 decided 56 days
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Full applications 83 decided 67 days
What East Cambridgeshire decides
Year to September 2026
East Cambridgeshire issued 274 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 93% were approvals: 124 granted against 9 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 East Cambridgeshire?
The median planning application decided by East Cambridgeshire in the year to September 2026 took 55 days from submission to decision, 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 274 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 117 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does East Cambridgeshire meet the eight week target?
60% of the 274 decisions East Cambridgeshire 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 120 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is East Cambridgeshire faster or slower than average?
East Cambridgeshire is faster than average: its median of 55 days is 1 day below the national median of 56 days.
Is East Cambridgeshire getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 55 days, East Cambridgeshire has moved up 22 places in the table. Its median has not changed.
What proportion of applications does East Cambridgeshire approve?
93% of the clear-cut outcomes East Cambridgeshire issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 124 granted against 9 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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East Cambridgeshire planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 55 days from application to decision (1 day inside the eight week target), across 274 decisions with both dates published. 60% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 82% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 120 days. Ranked 117 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 93% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.