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Decision times · London

How long planning decisions take in Kingston upon Thames

64 days.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Kingston upon Thames took 64 days from submission to decision — 8 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,931 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.

64 days
Median decision 8 days beyond the eight week target
42%
Within eight weeks 77% within thirteen
129 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Kingston upon Thames compares

Year to December 2026

Kingston upon Thames takes longer than the country as a whole: 7 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 42%.

The average here is 85 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 129 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 807 42%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 680 35%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 444 23%

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.

Kingston upon Thames: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
March 2026 64 27 of 38
December 2025 63 10 of 24
September 2025 67 21 of 27
June 2025 67 27 of 31

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.

  1. Telecoms 14 decided 28 days
  2. Amendments 54 decided 31 days
  3. Trees 268 decided 55 days
  4. Lawful development 196 decided 56 days
  5. Outline 23 decided 60 days
  6. Conditions 200 decided 63 days
  7. Householder 550 decided 72 days
  8. Advertising 48 decided 82 days
  9. Full applications 306 decided 96 days
  10. Heritage and listed buildings 14 decided 139 days

How these types compare nationally

What Kingston upon Thames decides

Year to December 2026

Kingston upon Thames issued 1,931 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 83% were approvals: 1,428 granted against 286 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 Kingston upon Thames?

The median planning application decided by Kingston upon Thames in the year to December 2026 took 64 days from submission to decision, 8 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,931 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.

Does Kingston upon Thames meet the eight week target?

42% of the 1,931 decisions Kingston upon Thames made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 77% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 129 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Kingston upon Thames faster or slower than average?

Kingston upon Thames is slower than average: its median of 64 days is 7 days above the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does Kingston upon Thames approve?

83% of the clear-cut outcomes Kingston upon Thames issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 1,428 granted against 286 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Kingston upon Thames planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 64 days from application to decision (8 days beyond the eight week target), across 1,931 decisions with both dates published. 42% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 77% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 129 days. 83% 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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