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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in Eastleigh

52 days. Ranked 60 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Eastleigh took 52 days from submission to decision — 4 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,059 decisions where the council published both dates.

52 days
Median decision 4 days inside the eight week target
60 of 343
UK rank down 12 places in a year
64%
Within eight weeks 86% within thirteen
106 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Eastleigh compares

Year to September 2026

Eastleigh decides faster than the country as a whole: 4 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 64%.

The average here is 66 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 106 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 674 64%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 239 23%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 146 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.

Eastleigh: 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 52 60 of 343
June 2026 51 61 of 328
March 2026 50 66 of 243
December 2025 48 76 of 236
September 2025 45 48 of 324
June 2025 49 28 of 313
March 2025 49 27 of 315
December 2024 49 30 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 45 days, Eastleigh has moved down 12 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. Prior approval 30 decided 36 days
  2. Trees 381 decided 43 days
  3. Lawful development 66 decided 44 days
  4. Conditions 90 decided 54 days
  5. Householder 323 decided 62 days
  6. Amendments 16 decided 69 days
  7. Heritage and listed buildings 17 decided 71 days
  8. Advertising 19 decided 73 days
  9. Full applications 90 decided 78 days

How these types compare nationally

What Eastleigh decides

Year to September 2026

Eastleigh issued 1,059 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 85% were approvals: 738 granted against 133 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 Eastleigh?

The median planning application decided by Eastleigh in the year to September 2026 took 52 days from submission to decision, 4 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,059 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 60 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Eastleigh meet the eight week target?

64% of the 1,059 decisions Eastleigh 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 106 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Eastleigh faster or slower than average?

Eastleigh is faster than average: its median of 52 days is 4 days below the national median of 56 days.

Is Eastleigh getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 45 days, Eastleigh has moved down 12 places in the table. Its median has risen by 7 days.

What proportion of applications does Eastleigh approve?

85% of the clear-cut outcomes Eastleigh issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 738 granted against 133 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Eastleigh planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 52 days from application to decision (4 days inside the eight week target), across 1,059 decisions with both dates published. 64% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 86% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 106 days. Ranked 60 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 85% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.