Decision times · West Midlands
How long planning decisions take in Malvern Hills
56 days. Ranked 165 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Malvern Hills took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 300 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Malvern Hills compares
Year to September 2026
Malvern Hills sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 53%.
The average here is 100 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 221 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 160 53%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 54 18%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 86 29%
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 | 56 | 165 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 55 | 141 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 63 | 246 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 63 | 222 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 63 | 226 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 63 | 231 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 63 days, Malvern Hills has moved up 81 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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Trees 42 decided 20 days
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Other 13 decided 25 days
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Lawful development 22 decided 53 days
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Conditions 58 decided 58 days
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Householder 62 decided 64 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 24 decided 84 days
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Full applications 61 decided 117 days
What Malvern Hills decides
Year to September 2026
Malvern Hills issued 300 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 91% were approvals: 237 granted against 24 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 Malvern Hills?
The median planning application decided by Malvern Hills in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 300 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 165 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Malvern Hills meet the eight week target?
53% of the 300 decisions Malvern Hills made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 71% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 221 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Malvern Hills faster or slower than average?
Malvern Hills sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.
Is Malvern Hills getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 63 days, Malvern Hills has moved up 81 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 7 days.
What proportion of applications does Malvern Hills approve?
91% of the clear-cut outcomes Malvern Hills issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 237 granted against 24 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Malvern Hills planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 300 decisions with both dates published. 53% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 71% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 221 days. Ranked 165 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 91% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.