Decision times · North West
How long planning decisions take in Halton
62 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Halton took 62 days from submission to decision — 6 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 206 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.
How Halton compares
Year to December 2026
Halton takes longer than the country as a whole: 5 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 47%.
The average here is 122 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 261 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 96 47%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 47 23%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 63 31%
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.
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Amendments 12 decided 46 days
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Trees 15 decided 50 days
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Conditions 43 decided 56 days
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Full applications 89 decided 71 days
What Halton decides
Year to December 2026
Halton issued 206 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 95% were approvals: 140 granted against 8 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 December 2026 took 62 days from submission to decision, 6 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 206 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Halton meet the eight week target?
47% of the 206 decisions Halton made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 69% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 261 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 62 days is 5 days above the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Halton approve?
95% of the clear-cut outcomes Halton issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 140 granted against 8 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Halton planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 62 days from application to decision (6 days beyond the eight week target), across 206 decisions with both dates published. 47% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 69% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 261 days. 95% 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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<p>Data: <a href="https://planindex.co.uk/planning-decision-times/halton">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>