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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in Mid Sussex

53 days. Ranked 71 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Mid Sussex took 53 days from submission to decision — 3 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,599 decisions where the council published both dates.

53 days
Median decision 3 days inside the eight week target
71 of 343
UK rank down 15 places in a year
61%
Within eight weeks 85% within thirteen
111 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Mid Sussex compares

Year to September 2026

Mid Sussex decides faster than the country as a whole: 3 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 61%.

The average here is 65 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 111 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 983 61%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 379 24%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 237 15%

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.

Mid Sussex: 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 53 71 of 343
June 2026 51 60 of 328
March 2026 49 54 of 243
December 2025 48 73 of 236
September 2025 48 56 of 324
June 2025 49 29 of 313
March 2025 49 28 of 315
December 2024 49 31 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 48 days, Mid Sussex has moved down 15 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. Other 28 decided 27 days
  2. Prior approval 14 decided 37 days
  3. Trees 383 decided 37 days
  4. Amendments 110 decided 50 days
  5. Lawful development 137 decided 50 days
  6. Conditions 221 decided 54 days
  7. Advertising 23 decided 55 days
  8. Householder 465 decided 58 days
  9. Heritage and listed buildings 46 decided 59 days
  10. Full applications 145 decided 77 days

How these types compare nationally

What Mid Sussex decides

Year to September 2026

Mid Sussex issued 1,599 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 73% were approvals: 240 granted against 90 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 Mid Sussex?

The median planning application decided by Mid Sussex in the year to September 2026 took 53 days from submission to decision, 3 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,599 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 71 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Mid Sussex meet the eight week target?

61% of the 1,599 decisions Mid Sussex made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 85% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 111 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Mid Sussex faster or slower than average?

Mid Sussex is faster than average: its median of 53 days is 3 days below the national median of 56 days.

Is Mid Sussex getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 48 days, Mid Sussex has moved down 15 places in the table. Its median has risen by 5 days.

What proportion of applications does Mid Sussex approve?

73% of the clear-cut outcomes Mid Sussex issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 240 granted against 90 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Mid Sussex planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 53 days from application to decision (3 days inside the eight week target), across 1,599 decisions with both dates published. 61% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 85% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 111 days. Ranked 71 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 73% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.