Decision times · North West
How long planning decisions take in Halton
77 days. Ranked 295 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Halton took 77 days from submission to decision — 21 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 70 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Halton compares
Year to September 2026
Halton takes longer than the country as a whole: 21 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 30%.
The average here is 111 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 215 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
-
Within eight weeks the statutory target 21 30%
-
Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 21 30%
-
Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 28 40%
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 | 77 | 295 of 343 |
| September 2025 | 49 | 75 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 49 | 34 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 49 | 33 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 49 | 36 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 49 days, Halton has moved down 220 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.
-
Full applications 42 decided 76 days
-
Conditions 14 decided 81 days
What Halton decides
Year to September 2026
Halton issued 70 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 96% were approvals: 51 granted against 2 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 Halton?
The median planning application decided by Halton in the year to September 2026 took 77 days from submission to decision, 21 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 70 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 295 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Halton meet the eight week target?
30% of the 70 decisions Halton made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 60% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 215 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Halton faster or slower than average?
Halton is slower than average: its median of 77 days is 21 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Halton getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 49 days, Halton has moved down 220 places in the table. Its median has risen by 28 days.
What proportion of applications does Halton approve?
96% of the clear-cut outcomes Halton issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 51 granted against 2 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
Click the text to select the whole citation.
Halton planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 77 days from application to decision (21 days beyond the eight week target), across 70 decisions with both dates published. 30% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 60% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 215 days. Ranked 295 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 96% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.