Decision times · East of England
How long planning decisions take in Norwich
55 days. Ranked 118 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Norwich took 55 days from submission to decision — 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 218 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Norwich compares
Year to September 2026
Norwich decides faster than the country as a whole: 1 day below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 57%.
The average here is 111 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 217 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 125 57%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 37 17%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 56 26%
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 | 55 | 118 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 52 | 79 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 38 | 27 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 40 | 7 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 40 | 6 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 40 | 7 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 38 days, Norwich has moved down 91 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 42 decided 41 days
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Advertising 10 decided 46 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 41 decided 52 days
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Amendments 13 decided 56 days
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Conditions 17 decided 58 days
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Full applications 81 decided 66 days
What Norwich decides
Year to September 2026
Norwich issued 218 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 92% were approvals: 171 granted against 14 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 Norwich?
The median planning application decided by Norwich in the year to September 2026 took 55 days from submission to decision, 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 218 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 118 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Norwich meet the eight week target?
57% of the 218 decisions Norwich made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 74% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 217 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Norwich faster or slower than average?
Norwich is faster than average: its median of 55 days is 1 day below the national median of 56 days.
Is Norwich getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 38 days, Norwich has moved down 91 places in the table. Its median has risen by 17 days.
What proportion of applications does Norwich approve?
92% of the clear-cut outcomes Norwich issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 171 granted against 14 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Norwich planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 55 days from application to decision (1 day inside the eight week target), across 218 decisions with both dates published. 57% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 74% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 217 days. Ranked 118 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 92% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.