Decision times · East of England
How long planning decisions take in Harlow
60 days. Ranked 222 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Harlow took 60 days from submission to decision — 4 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 145 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Harlow compares
Year to September 2026
Harlow takes longer than the country as a whole: 4 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 47%.
The average here is 107 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 205 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 68 47%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 30 21%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 47 32%
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 | 60 | 222 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 64 | 266 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 84 | 227 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 80 | 218 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 55 | 142 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 50 | 38 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 50 | 37 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 50 | 43 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 55 days, Harlow has moved down 80 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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Lawful development 12 decided 51 days
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Householder 36 decided 55 days
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Amendments 10 decided 64 days
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Conditions 19 decided 97 days
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Full applications 53 decided 132 days
What Harlow decides
Year to September 2026
Harlow issued 145 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 84% were approvals: 103 granted against 19 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 Harlow?
The median planning application decided by Harlow in the year to September 2026 took 60 days from submission to decision, 4 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 145 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 222 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Harlow meet the eight week target?
47% of the 145 decisions Harlow made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 68% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 205 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Harlow faster or slower than average?
Harlow is slower than average: its median of 60 days is 4 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Harlow getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 55 days, Harlow has moved down 80 places in the table. Its median has risen by 5 days.
What proportion of applications does Harlow approve?
84% of the clear-cut outcomes Harlow issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 103 granted against 19 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Harlow planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 60 days from application to decision (4 days beyond the eight week target), across 145 decisions with both dates published. 47% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 68% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 205 days. Ranked 222 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 84% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.