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Decision times · London

How long planning decisions take in Greenwich

56 days. Ranked 123 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Greenwich took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 2,484 decisions where the council published both dates.

56 days
Median decision exactly the eight week target
123 of 343
UK rank up 44 places in a year
52%
Within eight weeks 81% within thirteen
128 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Greenwich compares

Year to September 2026

Greenwich sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 52%.

The average here is 74 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 128 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 1,297 52%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 704 28%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 483 19%

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
September 2026 56 123 of 343
June 2026 56 149 of 328
March 2026 56 152 of 243
December 2025 55 157 of 236
September 2025 56 167 of 324
June 2025 56 131 of 313
March 2025 56 131 of 315
December 2024 56 133 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 56 days, Greenwich has moved up 44 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. Outline 38 decided 21 days
  2. Trees 347 decided 28 days
  3. Prior approval 153 decided 41 days
  4. Amendments 80 decided 52 days
  5. Lawful development 332 decided 56 days
  6. Conditions 592 decided 61 days
  7. Advertising 53 decided 68 days
  8. Householder 435 decided 68 days
  9. Heritage and listed buildings 64 decided 80 days
  10. Full applications 371 decided 82 days

How these types compare nationally

What Greenwich decides

Year to September 2026

Greenwich issued 2,484 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 84% were approvals: 1,989 granted against 379 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 September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 2,484 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 123 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Greenwich meet the eight week target?

52% of the 2,484 decisions Greenwich made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 81% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 128 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 56 days.

Is Greenwich getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 56 days, Greenwich has moved up 44 places in the table. Its median has not changed.

What proportion of applications does Greenwich approve?

84% of the clear-cut outcomes Greenwich issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 1,989 granted against 379 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 September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 2,484 decisions with both dates published. 52% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 81% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 128 days. Ranked 123 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 84% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.