Decision times · London
How long planning decisions take in Hillingdon
58 days. Ranked 25 of 45.
In the year to December 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 2,165 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Hillingdon compares
Year to December 2026
Hillingdon takes longer than the country as a whole: 1 day above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 46%.
The average here is 72 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 115 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 994 46%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 786 36%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 385 18%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| December 2026 | 58 | 25 of 45 |
| September 2026 | 57 | 34 of 56 |
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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Trees 101 decided 58 days
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Full applications 1,666 decided 59 days
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Advertising 34 decided 68 days
What Hillingdon decides
Year to December 2026
Hillingdon issued 2,165 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 87% were approvals: 1,691 granted against 243 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 December 2026 took 58 days from submission to decision, 2 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 2,165 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 25 of 45 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Hillingdon meet the eight week target?
46% of the 2,165 decisions Hillingdon made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 82% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 115 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 1 day above the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Hillingdon approve?
87% of the clear-cut outcomes Hillingdon issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 1,691 granted against 243 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Hillingdon planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 58 days from application to decision (2 days beyond the eight week target), across 2,165 decisions with both dates published. 46% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 82% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 115 days. Ranked 25 of 45 UK councils on decision speed (national median 57 days). 87% 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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