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Decision times · East of England

How long planning decisions take in Luton

80 days. Ranked 306 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Luton took 80 days from submission to decision — 24 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 265 decisions where the council published both dates.

80 days
Median decision 24 days beyond the eight week target
306 of 343
UK rank down 29 places in a year
26%
Within eight weeks 63% within thirteen
157 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Luton compares

Year to September 2026

Luton takes longer than the country as a whole: 24 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 26%.

The average here is 94 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 157 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 68 26%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 98 37%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 99 37%

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.

Luton: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
September 2026 80 306 of 343
June 2026 73 287 of 328
September 2025 70 277 of 324
June 2025 71 265 of 313
March 2025 71 267 of 315
December 2024 70 267 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 70 days, Luton has moved down 29 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.

  1. Amendments 10 decided 61 days
  2. Lawful development 25 decided 64 days
  3. Conditions 55 decided 72 days
  4. Full applications 162 decided 86 days

How these types compare nationally

What Luton decides

Year to September 2026

Luton issued 265 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 81% were approvals: 209 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 Luton?

The median planning application decided by Luton in the year to September 2026 took 80 days from submission to decision, 24 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 265 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 306 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Luton meet the eight week target?

26% of the 265 decisions Luton made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 63% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 157 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Luton faster or slower than average?

Luton is slower than average: its median of 80 days is 24 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is Luton getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 70 days, Luton has moved down 29 places in the table. Its median has risen by 10 days.

What proportion of applications does Luton approve?

81% of the clear-cut outcomes Luton issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 209 granted against 48 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Luton planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 80 days from application to decision (24 days beyond the eight week target), across 265 decisions with both dates published. 26% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 63% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 157 days. Ranked 306 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 81% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.