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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in Gravesham

55 days. Ranked 111 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Gravesham took 55 days from submission to decision — 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 609 decisions where the council published both dates.

55 days
Median decision 1 day inside the eight week target
111 of 343
UK rank down 8 places in a year
60%
Within eight weeks 86% within thirteen
114 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Gravesham compares

Year to September 2026

Gravesham decides faster than the country as a whole: 1 day below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 60%.

The average here is 64 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 114 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 363 60%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 159 26%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 87 14%

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.

Gravesham: 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 55 111 of 343
June 2026 53 91 of 328
March 2026 51 81 of 243
December 2025 48 78 of 236
September 2025 52 103 of 324
June 2025 53 68 of 313
March 2025 53 69 of 315
December 2024 53 71 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 52 days, Gravesham has moved down 8 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. Telecoms 33 decided 17 days
  2. Amendments 14 decided 25 days
  3. Trees 44 decided 34 days
  4. Prior approval 17 decided 37 days
  5. Conditions 80 decided 56 days
  6. Householder 176 decided 56 days
  7. Lawful development 93 decided 56 days
  8. Full applications 94 decided 70 days
  9. Heritage and listed buildings 17 decided 99 days

How these types compare nationally

What Gravesham decides

Year to September 2026

Gravesham issued 609 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 86% were approvals: 493 granted against 83 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 Gravesham?

The median planning application decided by Gravesham in the year to September 2026 took 55 days from submission to decision, 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 609 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 111 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Gravesham meet the eight week target?

60% of the 609 decisions Gravesham made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 86% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 114 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Gravesham faster or slower than average?

Gravesham is faster than average: its median of 55 days is 1 day below the national median of 56 days.

Is Gravesham getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 52 days, Gravesham has moved down 8 places in the table. Its median has risen by 3 days.

What proportion of applications does Gravesham approve?

86% of the clear-cut outcomes Gravesham issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 493 granted against 83 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Gravesham planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 55 days from application to decision (1 day inside the eight week target), across 609 decisions with both dates published. 60% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 86% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 114 days. Ranked 111 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 86% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.