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Decision times · London

How long planning decisions take in Kensington and Chelsea

93 days. Ranked 319 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Kensington and Chelsea took 93 days from submission to decision — 37 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 3,223 decisions where the council published both dates.

93 days
Median decision 37 days beyond the eight week target
319 of 343
UK rank down 267 places in a year
29%
Within eight weeks 50% within thirteen
183 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Kensington and Chelsea compares

Year to September 2026

Kensington and Chelsea takes longer than the country as a whole: 37 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 29%.

The average here is 106 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 183 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 919 29%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 684 21%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 1,620 50%

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.

Kensington and Chelsea: 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 93 319 of 343
June 2026 89 311 of 328
March 2026 60 192 of 243
December 2025 50 100 of 236
September 2025 47 52 of 324
June 2025 56 136 of 313
March 2025 56 135 of 315
December 2024 56 128 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 47 days, Kensington and Chelsea has moved down 267 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. Amendments 89 decided 38 days
  2. Advertising 166 decided 90 days
  3. Conditions 528 decided 90 days
  4. Lawful development 84 decided 100 days
  5. Full applications 1,218 decided 111 days
  6. Heritage and listed buildings 421 decided 120 days
  7. Prior approval 12 decided 122 days

How these types compare nationally

What Kensington and Chelsea decides

Year to September 2026

Kensington and Chelsea issued 3,223 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 96% were approvals: 2,717 granted against 128 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 Kensington and Chelsea?

The median planning application decided by Kensington and Chelsea in the year to September 2026 took 93 days from submission to decision, 37 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 3,223 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 319 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Kensington and Chelsea meet the eight week target?

29% of the 3,223 decisions Kensington and Chelsea made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 50% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 183 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Kensington and Chelsea faster or slower than average?

Kensington and Chelsea is slower than average: its median of 93 days is 37 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is Kensington and Chelsea getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 47 days, Kensington and Chelsea has moved down 267 places in the table. Its median has risen by 46 days.

What proportion of applications does Kensington and Chelsea approve?

96% of the clear-cut outcomes Kensington and Chelsea issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 2,717 granted against 128 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Kensington and Chelsea planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 93 days from application to decision (37 days beyond the eight week target), across 3,223 decisions with both dates published. 29% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 50% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 183 days. Ranked 319 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 96% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.