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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in Epsom and Ewell

52 days. Ranked 61 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Epsom and Ewell took 52 days from submission to decision — 4 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,032 decisions where the council published both dates.

52 days
Median decision 4 days inside the eight week target
61 of 343
UK rank down 11 places in a year
79%
Within eight weeks 94% within thirteen
77 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Epsom and Ewell compares

Year to September 2026

Epsom and Ewell 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 79%.

The average here is 53 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 77 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 812 79%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 153 15%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 67 6%

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.

Epsom and Ewell: 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 61 of 343
June 2026 50 54 of 328
March 2026 48 47 of 243
December 2025 46 64 of 236
September 2025 46 50 of 324
June 2025 49 30 of 313
March 2025 49 30 of 315
December 2024 49 32 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 46 days, Epsom and Ewell has moved down 11 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 37 decided 14 days
  2. Amendments 19 decided 24 days
  3. Telecoms 10 decided 24 days
  4. Prior approval 38 decided 36 days
  5. Lawful development 121 decided 49 days
  6. Advertising 17 decided 50 days
  7. Trees 219 decided 52 days
  8. Householder 310 decided 53 days
  9. Conditions 128 decided 54 days
  10. Full applications 94 decided 56 days
  11. Heritage and listed buildings 29 decided 71 days

How these types compare nationally

What Epsom and Ewell decides

Year to September 2026

Epsom and Ewell issued 1,032 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 87% were approvals: 878 granted against 136 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 Epsom and Ewell?

The median planning application decided by Epsom and Ewell in the year to September 2026 took 52 days from submission to decision, 4 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,032 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 61 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Epsom and Ewell meet the eight week target?

79% of the 1,032 decisions Epsom and Ewell made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 94% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 77 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Epsom and Ewell faster or slower than average?

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

Is Epsom and Ewell getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 46 days, Epsom and Ewell has moved down 11 places in the table. Its median has risen by 6 days.

What proportion of applications does Epsom and Ewell approve?

87% of the clear-cut outcomes Epsom and Ewell issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 878 granted against 136 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Epsom and Ewell planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 52 days from application to decision (4 days inside the eight week target), across 1,032 decisions with both dates published. 79% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 94% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 77 days. Ranked 61 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 87% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.