Decision times · Yorkshire and The Humber
How long planning decisions take in Kirklees
61 days. Ranked 224 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Kirklees took 61 days from submission to decision — 5 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,032 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Kirklees compares
Year to September 2026
Kirklees takes longer than the country as a whole: 5 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 43%.
The average here is 87 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 167 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 444 43%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 306 30%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 282 27%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | 61 | 224 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 60 | 231 of 328 |
| December 2025 | 471 | 234 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 62 | 233 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 64 | 225 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 67 | 247 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 65 | 240 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 62 days, Kirklees has moved up 9 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.
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Trees 211 decided 25 days
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Outline 68 decided 42 days
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Amendments 92 decided 56 days
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Advertising 19 decided 63 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 44 decided 72 days
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Conditions 148 decided 73 days
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Full applications 425 decided 76 days
What Kirklees decides
Year to September 2026
Kirklees issued 1,032 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 78% were approvals: 390 granted against 107 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 Kirklees?
The median planning application decided by Kirklees in the year to September 2026 took 61 days from submission to decision, 5 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,032 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 224 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Kirklees meet the eight week target?
43% of the 1,032 decisions Kirklees made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 73% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 167 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Kirklees faster or slower than average?
Kirklees is slower than average: its median of 61 days is 5 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Kirklees getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 62 days, Kirklees has moved up 9 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 1 day.
What proportion of applications does Kirklees approve?
78% of the clear-cut outcomes Kirklees issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 390 granted against 107 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Kirklees planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 61 days from application to decision (5 days beyond the eight week target), across 1,032 decisions with both dates published. 43% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 73% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 167 days. Ranked 224 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 78% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.