Decision times · East of England
How long planning decisions take in Ipswich
52 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Ipswich took 52 days from submission to decision — 4 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 664 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 Ipswich compares
Year to December 2026
Ipswich decides faster than the country as a whole: 5 days below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 61%.
The average here is 82 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 133 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 402 61%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 142 21%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 120 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 2024 | 50 | 8 of 57 |
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 67 decided 33 days
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Trees 123 decided 39 days
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Prior approval 19 decided 48 days
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Lawful development 30 decided 52 days
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Advertising 18 decided 57 days
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Conditions 110 decided 57 days
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Full applications 262 decided 58 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 32 decided 66 days
What Ipswich decides
Year to December 2026
Ipswich issued 664 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 95% were approvals: 605 granted against 35 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 Ipswich?
The median planning application decided by Ipswich in the year to December 2026 took 52 days from submission to decision, 4 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 664 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Ipswich meet the eight week target?
61% of the 664 decisions Ipswich 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 133 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Ipswich faster or slower than average?
Ipswich is faster than average: its median of 52 days is 5 days below the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Ipswich approve?
95% of the clear-cut outcomes Ipswich issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 605 granted against 35 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Ipswich planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 52 days from application to decision (4 days inside the eight week target), across 664 decisions with both dates published. 61% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 82% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 133 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/ipswich">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>