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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in Milton Keynes

56 days. Ranked 129 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Milton Keynes took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,800 decisions where the council published both dates.

56 days
Median decision exactly the eight week target
129 of 343
UK rank up 170 places in a year
50%
Within eight weeks 83% within thirteen
113 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Milton Keynes compares

Year to September 2026

Milton Keynes sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 50%.

The average here is 70 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 113 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 906 50%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 583 32%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 311 17%

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.

Milton Keynes: 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 56 129 of 343
June 2026 56 156 of 328
March 2026 54 116 of 243
December 2025 52 120 of 236
September 2025 84 299 of 324
June 2025 92 293 of 313
March 2025 93 299 of 315
December 2024 93 304 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 84 days, Milton Keynes has moved up 170 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. Telecoms 28 decided 7 days
  2. Outline 42 decided 34 days
  3. Amendments 121 decided 39 days
  4. Prior approval 100 decided 42 days
  5. Trees 165 decided 52 days
  6. Lawful development 180 decided 53 days
  7. Conditions 345 decided 55 days
  8. Advertising 60 decided 58 days
  9. Heritage and listed buildings 69 decided 70 days
  10. Householder 449 decided 70 days
  11. Full applications 232 decided 86 days

How these types compare nationally

What Milton Keynes decides

Year to September 2026

Milton Keynes issued 1,800 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 85% were approvals: 1,414 granted against 242 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 Milton Keynes?

The median planning application decided by Milton Keynes in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,800 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 129 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Milton Keynes meet the eight week target?

50% of the 1,800 decisions Milton Keynes made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 83% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 113 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Milton Keynes faster or slower than average?

Milton Keynes sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.

Is Milton Keynes getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 84 days, Milton Keynes has moved up 170 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 28 days.

What proportion of applications does Milton Keynes approve?

85% of the clear-cut outcomes Milton Keynes issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 1,414 granted against 242 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Milton Keynes planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 1,800 decisions with both dates published. 50% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 83% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 113 days. Ranked 129 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 85% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.