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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in Folkestone and Hythe

49 days. Ranked 26 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Folkestone and Hythe took 49 days from submission to decision — 7 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,212 decisions where the council published both dates.

49 days
Median decision 7 days inside the eight week target
26 of 343
UK rank down 4 places in a year
72%
Within eight weeks 95% within thirteen
76 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Folkestone and Hythe compares

Year to September 2026

Folkestone and Hythe decides faster than the country as a whole: 7 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 72%.

The average here is 51 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 76 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 869 72%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 283 23%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 60 5%

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.

Folkestone and Hythe: 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 49 26 of 343
June 2026 48 36 of 328
March 2026 48 46 of 243
December 2025 46 63 of 236
September 2025 35 22 of 324
June 2025 46 21 of 313
March 2025 45 16 of 315
December 2024 45 17 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 35 days, Folkestone and Hythe has moved down 4 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. Trees 186 decided 34 days
  2. Amendments 98 decided 36 days
  3. Conditions 188 decided 43 days
  4. Lawful development 103 decided 44 days
  5. Prior approval 36 decided 44 days
  6. Advertising 12 decided 52 days
  7. Householder 276 decided 52 days
  8. Heritage and listed buildings 58 decided 59 days
  9. Full applications 205 decided 64 days

How these types compare nationally

What Folkestone and Hythe decides

Year to September 2026

Folkestone and Hythe issued 1,212 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 87% were approvals: 905 granted against 134 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 Folkestone and Hythe?

The median planning application decided by Folkestone and Hythe in the year to September 2026 took 49 days from submission to decision, 7 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,212 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 26 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Folkestone and Hythe meet the eight week target?

72% of the 1,212 decisions Folkestone and Hythe made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 95% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 76 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Folkestone and Hythe faster or slower than average?

Folkestone and Hythe is faster than average: its median of 49 days is 7 days below the national median of 56 days.

Is Folkestone and Hythe getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 35 days, Folkestone and Hythe has moved down 4 places in the table. Its median has risen by 14 days.

What proportion of applications does Folkestone and Hythe approve?

87% of the clear-cut outcomes Folkestone and Hythe issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 905 granted against 134 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Folkestone and Hythe planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 49 days from application to decision (7 days inside the eight week target), across 1,212 decisions with both dates published. 72% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 95% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 76 days. Ranked 26 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 87% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.