Decision times · East Midlands
How long planning decisions take in Melton
104 days. Ranked 332 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Melton took 104 days from submission to decision — 48 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 166 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Melton compares
Year to September 2026
Melton takes longer than the country as a whole: 48 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 22%.
The average here is 197 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 481 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 37 22%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 28 17%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 101 61%
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 | 104 | 332 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 96 | 317 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 75 | 285 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 70 | 259 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 70 | 261 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 70 | 268 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 75 days, Melton has moved down 47 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 36 decided 52 days
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Conditions 14 decided 88 days
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Amendments 15 decided 98 days
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Householder 37 decided 104 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 10 decided 125 days
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Full applications 34 decided 211 days
What Melton decides
Year to September 2026
Melton issued 166 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 87% were approvals: 130 granted against 19 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 Melton?
The median planning application decided by Melton in the year to September 2026 took 104 days from submission to decision, 48 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 166 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 332 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Melton meet the eight week target?
22% of the 166 decisions Melton made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 39% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 481 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Melton faster or slower than average?
Melton is slower than average: its median of 104 days is 48 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Melton getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 75 days, Melton has moved down 47 places in the table. Its median has risen by 29 days.
What proportion of applications does Melton approve?
87% of the clear-cut outcomes Melton issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 130 granted against 19 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Melton planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 104 days from application to decision (48 days beyond the eight week target), across 166 decisions with both dates published. 22% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 39% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 481 days. Ranked 332 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 87% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.