Decision times · East of England
How long planning decisions take in Great Yarmouth
246 days. Ranked 341 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Great Yarmouth took 246 days from submission to decision — 190 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 196 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Great Yarmouth compares
Year to September 2026
Great Yarmouth takes longer than the country as a whole: 190 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 4%.
The average here is 327 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 738 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 7 4%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 21 11%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 168 86%
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.
| Twelve months to | Median days | UK rank |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | 246 | 341 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 264 | 328 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 290 | 242 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 335 | 232 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 158 | 317 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 133 | 307 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 108 | 305 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 99 | 306 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 158 days, Great Yarmouth has moved down 24 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.
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Heritage and listed buildings 11 decided 174 days
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Householder 30 decided 177 days
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Trees 23 decided 182 days
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Conditions 47 decided 258 days
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Full applications 57 decided 322 days
What Great Yarmouth decides
Year to September 2026
Great Yarmouth issued 196 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 100% were approvals: 136 granted against 0 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 Great Yarmouth?
The median planning application decided by Great Yarmouth in the year to September 2026 took 246 days from submission to decision, 190 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 196 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 341 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Great Yarmouth meet the eight week target?
4% of the 196 decisions Great Yarmouth made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 14% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 738 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Great Yarmouth faster or slower than average?
Great Yarmouth is slower than average: its median of 246 days is 190 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Great Yarmouth getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 158 days, Great Yarmouth has moved down 24 places in the table. Its median has risen by 88 days.
What proportion of applications does Great Yarmouth approve?
100% of the clear-cut outcomes Great Yarmouth issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 136 granted against 0 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Great Yarmouth planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 246 days from application to decision (190 days beyond the eight week target), across 196 decisions with both dates published. 4% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 14% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 738 days. Ranked 341 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 100% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.