Decision times · West Midlands
How long planning decisions take in Newcastle-under-Lyme
100 days. Ranked 328 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Newcastle-under-Lyme took 100 days from submission to decision — 44 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 50 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Newcastle-under-Lyme compares
Year to September 2026
Newcastle-under-Lyme takes longer than the country as a whole: 44 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 24%.
The average here is 131 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 246 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 12 24%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 11 22%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 27 54%
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 | 100 | 328 of 343 |
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 11 decided 64 days
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Conditions 12 decided 117 days
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Full applications 19 decided 146 days
What Newcastle-under-Lyme decides
Year to September 2026
Newcastle-under-Lyme issued 50 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 89% were approvals: 41 granted against 5 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 Newcastle-under-Lyme?
The median planning application decided by Newcastle-under-Lyme in the year to September 2026 took 100 days from submission to decision, 44 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 50 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 328 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Newcastle-under-Lyme meet the eight week target?
24% of the 50 decisions Newcastle-under-Lyme made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 46% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 246 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Newcastle-under-Lyme faster or slower than average?
Newcastle-under-Lyme is slower than average: its median of 100 days is 44 days above the national median of 56 days.
What proportion of applications does Newcastle-under-Lyme approve?
89% of the clear-cut outcomes Newcastle-under-Lyme issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 41 granted against 5 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Newcastle-under-Lyme planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 100 days from application to decision (44 days beyond the eight week target), across 50 decisions with both dates published. 24% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 46% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 246 days. Ranked 328 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 89% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.