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Decision times · London

How long planning decisions take in Newham

54 days. Ranked 82 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Newham took 54 days from submission to decision — 2 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,333 decisions where the council published both dates.

54 days
Median decision 2 days inside the eight week target
82 of 343
UK rank First measured window
67%
Within eight weeks 90% within thirteen
91 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Newham compares

Year to September 2026

Newham decides faster than the country as a whole: 2 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 67%.

The average here is 58 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 91 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 887 67%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 314 24%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 132 10%

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.

Newham: 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 54 82 of 343
June 2026 53 85 of 328
March 2026 51 79 of 243
December 2025 37 25 of 236

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 30 decided 24 days
  2. Amendments 58 decided 39 days
  3. Trees 30 decided 40 days
  4. Prior approval 81 decided 41 days
  5. Conditions 378 decided 53 days
  6. Lawful development 201 decided 54 days
  7. Householder 232 decided 55 days
  8. Advertising 55 decided 56 days
  9. Full applications 250 decided 56 days
  10. Heritage and listed buildings 10 decided 85 days

How these types compare nationally

What Newham decides

Year to September 2026

Newham issued 1,333 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 86% were approvals: 1,060 granted against 175 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 Newham?

The median planning application decided by Newham in the year to September 2026 took 54 days from submission to decision, 2 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,333 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 82 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Newham meet the eight week target?

67% of the 1,333 decisions Newham made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 90% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 91 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Newham faster or slower than average?

Newham is faster than average: its median of 54 days is 2 days below the national median of 56 days.

What proportion of applications does Newham approve?

86% of the clear-cut outcomes Newham issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 1,060 granted against 175 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Newham planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 54 days from application to decision (2 days inside the eight week target), across 1,333 decisions with both dates published. 67% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 90% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 91 days. Ranked 82 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 86% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.