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Decision times · London

How long planning decisions take in Hillingdon

58 days. Ranked 196 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Hillingdon took 58 days from submission to decision — 2 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,956 decisions where the council published both dates.

58 days
Median decision 2 days beyond the eight week target
196 of 343
UK rank down 41 places in a year
47%
Within eight weeks 85% within thirteen
106 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Hillingdon compares

Year to September 2026

Hillingdon takes longer than the country as a whole: 2 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 67 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 106 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 915 47%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 750 38%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 291 15%

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.

Hillingdon: 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 58 196 of 343
June 2026 57 196 of 328
March 2026 57 178 of 243
December 2025 54 151 of 236
September 2025 56 155 of 324
June 2025 56 124 of 313
March 2025 56 124 of 315
December 2024 56 126 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 56 days, Hillingdon has moved down 41 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. Full applications 1,789 decided 57 days
  2. Trees 130 decided 58 days
  3. Advertising 37 decided 67 days

How these types compare nationally

What Hillingdon decides

Year to September 2026

Hillingdon issued 1,956 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 89% were approvals: 1,680 granted against 213 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 Hillingdon?

The median planning application decided by Hillingdon in the year to September 2026 took 58 days from submission to decision, 2 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,956 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 196 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Hillingdon meet the eight week target?

47% of the 1,956 decisions Hillingdon made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 85% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 106 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Hillingdon faster or slower than average?

Hillingdon is slower than average: its median of 58 days is 2 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is Hillingdon getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 56 days, Hillingdon has moved down 41 places in the table. Its median has risen by 2 days.

What proportion of applications does Hillingdon approve?

89% of the clear-cut outcomes Hillingdon issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 1,680 granted against 213 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Hillingdon planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 58 days from application to decision (2 days beyond the eight week target), across 1,956 decisions with both dates published. 47% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 85% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 106 days. Ranked 196 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 89% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.