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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in Isle of Wight

57 days. Ranked 178 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Isle of Wight took 57 days from submission to decision — 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,259 decisions where the council published both dates.

57 days
Median decision 1 day beyond the eight week target
178 of 343
UK rank up 17 places in a year
48%
Within eight weeks 89% within thirteen
96 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Isle of Wight compares

Year to September 2026

Isle of Wight takes longer than the country as a whole: 1 day above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 48%.

The average here is 66 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 96 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 601 48%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 519 41%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 139 11%

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.

Isle of Wight: 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 57 178 of 343
June 2026 56 160 of 328
March 2026 56 163 of 243
December 2025 57 179 of 236
September 2025 57 195 of 324
June 2025 58 174 of 313
March 2025 58 178 of 315
December 2024 58 183 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 57 days, Isle of Wight has moved up 17 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. Conditions 149 decided 55 days
  2. Lawful development 18 decided 55 days
  3. Trees 415 decided 55 days
  4. Amendments 84 decided 56 days
  5. Outline 76 decided 56 days
  6. Householder 255 decided 59 days
  7. Heritage and listed buildings 45 decided 61 days
  8. Full applications 194 decided 68 days
  9. Advertising 13 decided 74 days

How these types compare nationally

What Isle of Wight decides

Year to September 2026

Isle of Wight issued 1,259 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 92% were approvals: 967 granted against 82 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 Isle of Wight?

The median planning application decided by Isle of Wight in the year to September 2026 took 57 days from submission to decision, 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,259 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 178 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Isle of Wight meet the eight week target?

48% of the 1,259 decisions Isle of Wight made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 89% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 96 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Isle of Wight faster or slower than average?

Isle of Wight is slower than average: its median of 57 days is 1 day above the national median of 56 days.

Is Isle of Wight getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 57 days, Isle of Wight has moved up 17 places in the table. Its median has not changed.

What proportion of applications does Isle of Wight approve?

92% of the clear-cut outcomes Isle of Wight issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 967 granted against 82 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Isle of Wight planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 57 days from application to decision (1 day beyond the eight week target), across 1,259 decisions with both dates published. 48% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 89% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 96 days. Ranked 178 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 92% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.