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Decision times · East of England

How long planning decisions take in Maldon

130 days. Ranked 335 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Maldon took 130 days from submission to decision — 74 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 364 decisions where the council published both dates.

130 days
Median decision 74 days beyond the eight week target
335 of 343
UK rank down 59 places in a year
13%
Within eight weeks 42% within thirteen
302 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Maldon compares

Year to September 2026

Maldon takes longer than the country as a whole: 74 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 13%.

The average here is 151 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 302 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 47 13%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 105 29%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 212 58%

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
September 2026 130 335 of 343
June 2026 133 324 of 328
March 2026 174 235 of 243
December 2025 172 225 of 236
September 2025 70 276 of 324
June 2025 57 155 of 313
March 2025 56 119 of 315
December 2024 56 121 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 70 days, Maldon has moved down 59 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. Trees 38 decided 57 days
  2. Lawful development 12 decided 61 days
  3. Heritage and listed buildings 21 decided 80 days
  4. Householder 73 decided 94 days
  5. Reserved matters 59 decided 103 days
  6. Amendments 20 decided 135 days
  7. Full applications 100 decided 180 days
  8. Outline 24 decided 228 days

How these types compare nationally

What Maldon decides

Year to September 2026

Maldon issued 364 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 78% were approvals: 237 granted against 65 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 September 2026 took 130 days from submission to decision, 74 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 364 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 335 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Maldon meet the eight week target?

13% of the 364 decisions Maldon made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 42% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 302 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 130 days is 74 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is Maldon getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 70 days, Maldon has moved down 59 places in the table. Its median has risen by 60 days.

What proportion of applications does Maldon approve?

78% of the clear-cut outcomes Maldon issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 237 granted against 65 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 September 2026: median 130 days from application to decision (74 days beyond the eight week target), across 364 decisions with both dates published. 13% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 42% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 302 days. Ranked 335 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 78% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.