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Decision times · London

How long planning decisions take in Greenwich

57 days.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Greenwich took 57 days from submission to decision — 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 2,404 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.

57 days
Median decision 1 day beyond the eight week target
49%
Within eight weeks 77% within thirteen
147 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Greenwich compares

Year to December 2026

Greenwich sits exactly on the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 49%.

The average here is 80 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 147 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 1,180 49%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 675 28%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 549 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.

Greenwich: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
June 2026 56 21 of 39
March 2026 56 14 of 38
September 2025 56 8 of 27
June 2025 56 9 of 31
March 2025 56 9 of 30
December 2024 56 24 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. Outline 22 decided 20 days
  2. Trees 206 decided 30 days
  3. Prior approval 91 decided 41 days
  4. Amendments 49 decided 56 days
  5. Lawful development 208 decided 56 days
  6. Conditions 404 decided 65 days
  7. Householder 300 decided 68 days
  8. Advertising 36 decided 73 days
  9. Heritage and listed buildings 60 decided 85 days
  10. Full applications 343 decided 89 days

How these types compare nationally

What Greenwich decides

Year to December 2026

Greenwich issued 2,404 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 85% were approvals: 1,853 granted against 328 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 Greenwich?

The median planning application decided by Greenwich in the year to December 2026 took 57 days from submission to decision, 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 2,404 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.

Does Greenwich meet the eight week target?

49% of the 2,404 decisions Greenwich 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 147 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Greenwich faster or slower than average?

Greenwich sits exactly on the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does Greenwich approve?

85% of the clear-cut outcomes Greenwich issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 1,853 granted against 328 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Greenwich planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 57 days from application to decision (1 day beyond the eight week target), across 2,404 decisions with both dates published. 49% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 77% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 147 days. 85% 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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