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Decision times · South West

How long planning decisions take in Gloucester

59 days.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Gloucester took 59 days from submission to decision — 3 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 540 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.

59 days
Median decision 3 days beyond the eight week target
45%
Within eight weeks 77% within thirteen
220 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Gloucester compares

Year to December 2026

Gloucester takes longer than the country as a whole: 2 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 45%.

The average here is 97 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 220 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 244 45%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 170 31%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 126 23%

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.

Gloucester: 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 56 29 of 56
June 2026 53 14 of 39
March 2026 50 7 of 38
December 2025 44 2 of 24
September 2025 50 3 of 27
June 2025 56 12 of 31
March 2025 56 11 of 30
December 2024 57 29 of 57

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. Trees 42 decided 8 days
  2. Amendments 11 decided 28 days
  3. Lawful development 38 decided 51 days
  4. Conditions 56 decided 62 days
  5. Full applications 280 decided 69 days
  6. Heritage and listed buildings 22 decided 84 days

How these types compare nationally

What Gloucester decides

Year to December 2026

Gloucester issued 540 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 82% were approvals: 396 granted against 85 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 Gloucester?

The median planning application decided by Gloucester in the year to December 2026 took 59 days from submission to decision, 3 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 540 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.

Does Gloucester meet the eight week target?

45% of the 540 decisions Gloucester made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 77% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 220 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Gloucester faster or slower than average?

Gloucester is slower than average: its median of 59 days is 2 days above the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does Gloucester approve?

82% of the clear-cut outcomes Gloucester issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 396 granted against 85 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Gloucester planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 59 days from application to decision (3 days beyond the eight week target), across 540 decisions with both dates published. 45% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 77% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 220 days. 82% 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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