Decision times · East of England
How long planning decisions take in Epping Forest
56 days. Ranked 161 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Epping Forest took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 474 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Epping Forest compares
Year to September 2026
Epping Forest sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 62%.
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, 115 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 294 62%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 108 23%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 72 15%
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 | 161 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 55 | 139 of 328 |
| December 2025 | 56 | 176 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 55 | 134 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 55 | 94 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 55 | 99 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 55 | 97 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 55 days, Epping Forest has moved down 27 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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Prior approval 22 decided 30 days
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Trees 31 decided 39 days
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Conditions 98 decided 47 days
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Amendments 32 decided 51 days
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Lawful development 54 decided 55 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 16 decided 56 days
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Householder 142 decided 56 days
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Full applications 64 decided 71 days
What Epping Forest decides
Year to September 2026
Epping Forest issued 474 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 80% were approvals: 306 granted against 75 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 Epping Forest?
The median planning application decided by Epping Forest in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 474 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 161 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Epping Forest meet the eight week target?
62% of the 474 decisions Epping Forest made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 85% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 115 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Epping Forest faster or slower than average?
Epping Forest sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.
Is Epping Forest getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 55 days, Epping Forest has moved down 27 places in the table. Its median has risen by 1 day.
What proportion of applications does Epping Forest approve?
80% of the clear-cut outcomes Epping Forest issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 306 granted against 75 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Epping Forest planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 474 decisions with both dates published. 62% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 85% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 115 days. Ranked 161 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 80% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.