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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in Epsom and Ewell

53 days.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Epsom and Ewell took 53 days from submission to decision — 3 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 953 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.

53 days
Median decision 3 days inside the eight week target
75%
Within eight weeks 90% within thirteen
91 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Epsom and Ewell compares

Year to December 2026

Epsom and Ewell decides faster than the country as a whole: 4 days below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 75%.

The average here is 58 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 91 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 712 75%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 146 15%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 95 10%

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 53 11 of 56
June 2026 51 8 of 39
March 2026 50 6 of 38

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. Outline 30 decided 15 days
  2. Amendments 20 decided 26 days
  3. Prior approval 25 decided 38 days
  4. Advertising 16 decided 51 days
  5. Lawful development 113 decided 51 days
  6. Householder 244 decided 53 days
  7. Conditions 107 decided 54 days
  8. Full applications 93 decided 56 days
  9. Trees 169 decided 63 days
  10. Heritage and listed buildings 24 decided 81 days

How these types compare nationally

What Epsom and Ewell decides

Year to December 2026

Epsom and Ewell issued 953 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 87% were approvals: 816 granted against 120 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 December 2026 took 53 days from submission to decision, 3 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 953 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.

Does Epsom and Ewell meet the eight week target?

75% of the 953 decisions Epsom and Ewell made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 90% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 91 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 53 days is 4 days below the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does Epsom and Ewell approve?

87% of the clear-cut outcomes Epsom and Ewell issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 816 granted against 120 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Epsom and Ewell planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 53 days from application to decision (3 days inside the eight week target), across 953 decisions with both dates published. 75% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 90% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 91 days. 87% 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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