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Decision times · East of England

How long planning decisions take in Maldon

74 days. Ranked 39 of 45.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Maldon took 74 days from submission to decision — 18 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 549 decisions where the council published both dates.

74 days
Median decision 18 days beyond the eight week target
39 of 45
UK rank down 17 places in a year
17%
Within eight weeks 59% within thirteen
279 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Maldon compares

Year to December 2026

Maldon takes longer than the country as a whole: 17 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 17%.

The average here is 123 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 279 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 95 17%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 230 42%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 224 41%

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.

Maldon: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
December 2026 74 39 of 45
September 2026 79 50 of 56
March 2026 174 36 of 38
December 2025 140 22 of 24
September 2025 63 19 of 27
June 2025 57 15 of 31
March 2025 57 14 of 30
December 2024 57 28 of 57

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 140 days, Maldon has moved down 17 places in the table.

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. Trees 52 decided 52 days
  2. Amendments 31 decided 57 days
  3. Lawful development 33 decided 57 days
  4. Heritage and listed buildings 34 decided 79 days
  5. Householder 71 decided 85 days
  6. Reserved matters 57 decided 87 days
  7. Full applications 125 decided 138 days
  8. Advertising 12 decided 148 days
  9. Outline 20 decided 264 days

How these types compare nationally

What Maldon decides

Year to December 2026

Maldon issued 549 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 82% were approvals: 379 granted against 84 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 Maldon?

The median planning application decided by Maldon in the year to December 2026 took 74 days from submission to decision, 18 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 549 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 39 of 45 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Maldon meet the eight week target?

17% of the 549 decisions Maldon made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 59% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 279 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Maldon faster or slower than average?

Maldon is slower than average: its median of 74 days is 17 days above the national median of 57 days.

Is Maldon getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 140 days, Maldon has moved down 17 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 66 days.

What proportion of applications does Maldon approve?

82% of the clear-cut outcomes Maldon issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 379 granted against 84 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Maldon planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 74 days from application to decision (18 days beyond the eight week target), across 549 decisions with both dates published. 17% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 59% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 279 days. Ranked 39 of 45 UK councils on decision speed (national median 57 days). 82% 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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