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Decision times · East Midlands

How long planning decisions take in Leicester

56 days.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Leicester took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 699 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.

56 days
Median decision exactly the eight week target
52%
Within eight weeks 82% within thirteen
117 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Leicester compares

Year to December 2026

Leicester decides faster than the country as a whole: 1 day below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 52%.

The average here is 79 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 117 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 361 52%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 209 30%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 129 18%

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. Lawful development 49 decided 45 days
  2. Conditions 57 decided 49 days
  3. Full applications 419 decided 61 days
  4. Advertising 34 decided 63 days
  5. Trees 37 decided 64 days
  6. Heritage and listed buildings 26 decided 71 days

How these types compare nationally

What Leicester decides

Year to December 2026

Leicester issued 699 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 83% were approvals: 558 granted against 111 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 December 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 699 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.

Does Leicester meet the eight week target?

52% of the 699 decisions Leicester made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 82% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 117 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 is faster than average: its median of 56 days is 1 day below the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does Leicester approve?

83% of the clear-cut outcomes Leicester issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 558 granted against 111 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 December 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 699 decisions with both dates published. 52% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 82% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 117 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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