Decision times · North West
How long planning decisions take in Oldham
83 days. Ranked 312 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Oldham took 83 days from submission to decision — 27 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 126 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Oldham compares
Year to September 2026
Oldham takes longer than the country as a whole: 27 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 22%.
The average here is 177 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 306 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 28 22%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 45 36%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 53 42%
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 | 83 | 312 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 72 | 284 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 1486 | 243 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 1462 | 236 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 69 | 272 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 66 | 239 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 60 | 199 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 68 | 261 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 69 days, Oldham has moved down 40 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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Conditions 10 decided 70 days
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Householder 59 decided 70 days
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Full applications 29 decided 193 days
What Oldham decides
Year to September 2026
Oldham issued 126 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 91% were approvals: 102 granted against 10 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 Oldham?
The median planning application decided by Oldham in the year to September 2026 took 83 days from submission to decision, 27 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 126 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 312 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Oldham meet the eight week target?
22% of the 126 decisions Oldham made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 58% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 306 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Oldham faster or slower than average?
Oldham is slower than average: its median of 83 days is 27 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Oldham getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 69 days, Oldham has moved down 40 places in the table. Its median has risen by 14 days.
What proportion of applications does Oldham approve?
91% of the clear-cut outcomes Oldham issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 102 granted against 10 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Oldham planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 83 days from application to decision (27 days beyond the eight week target), across 126 decisions with both dates published. 22% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 58% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 306 days. Ranked 312 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 91% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.