Decision times · East Midlands
How long planning decisions take in Leicester
56 days. Ranked 164 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Leicester took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 387 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Leicester compares
Year to September 2026
Leicester sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 54%.
The average here is 76 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 120 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 210 54%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 104 27%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 73 19%
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 | 56 | 164 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 62 | 247 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 90 | 304 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 90 | 289 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 89 | 293 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 90 | 298 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 90 days, Leicester has moved up 140 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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Lawful development 22 decided 48 days
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Conditions 32 decided 51 days
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Full applications 245 decided 57 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 13 decided 63 days
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Trees 20 decided 65 days
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Advertising 14 decided 66 days
What Leicester decides
Year to September 2026
Leicester issued 387 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 87% were approvals: 323 granted against 48 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 Leicester?
The median planning application decided by Leicester in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 387 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 164 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Leicester meet the eight week target?
54% of the 387 decisions Leicester made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 81% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 120 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Leicester faster or slower than average?
Leicester sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.
Is Leicester getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 90 days, Leicester has moved up 140 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 34 days.
What proportion of applications does Leicester approve?
87% of the clear-cut outcomes Leicester issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 323 granted against 48 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Leicester planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 387 decisions with both dates published. 54% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 81% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 120 days. Ranked 164 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 87% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.