Decision times · West Midlands
How long planning decisions take in Lichfield
62 days. Ranked 234 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Lichfield took 62 days from submission to decision — 6 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 216 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Lichfield compares
Year to September 2026
Lichfield takes longer than the country as a whole: 6 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 39%.
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, 241 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 84 39%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 57 26%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 75 35%
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 | 62 | 234 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 64 | 267 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 222 | 239 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 219 | 230 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 84 | 298 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 70 | 258 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 68 | 250 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 67 | 252 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 84 days, Lichfield has moved up 64 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 15 decided 43 days
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Amendments 11 decided 54 days
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Householder 77 decided 57 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 19 decided 61 days
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Full applications 65 decided 105 days
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Outline 12 decided 251 days
What Lichfield decides
Year to September 2026
Lichfield issued 216 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 82% were approvals: 173 granted against 37 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 Lichfield?
The median planning application decided by Lichfield in the year to September 2026 took 62 days from submission to decision, 6 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 216 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 234 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Lichfield meet the eight week target?
39% of the 216 decisions Lichfield made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 65% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 241 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Lichfield faster or slower than average?
Lichfield is slower than average: its median of 62 days is 6 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Lichfield getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 84 days, Lichfield has moved up 64 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 22 days.
What proportion of applications does Lichfield approve?
82% of the clear-cut outcomes Lichfield issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 173 granted against 37 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Lichfield planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 62 days from application to decision (6 days beyond the eight week target), across 216 decisions with both dates published. 39% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 65% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 241 days. Ranked 234 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 82% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.