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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in Oxford

46 days.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Oxford took 46 days from submission to decision — 10 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,081 decisions where the council published both dates.

This council carries a figure but no rank

Not ranked yet: our records do not yet pass the historical coverage, monthly continuity, missing-date and refresh checks for this window. The figure above is still what the published dates say; it is left out of the league table so it cannot distort the ranking. See the methodology.

46 days
Median decision 10 days inside the eight week target
68%
Within eight weeks 92% within thirteen
86 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Oxford compares

Year to December 2026

Oxford decides faster than the country as a whole: 11 days below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 68%.

The average here is 52 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 86 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 740 68%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 258 24%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 83 8%

By type of application

Year to December 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 25 decided 5 days
  2. Trees 314 decided 27 days
  3. Amendments 69 decided 35 days
  4. Prior approval 12 decided 37 days
  5. Conditions 102 decided 46 days
  6. Outline 89 decided 55 days
  7. Advertising 23 decided 65 days
  8. Heritage and listed buildings 45 decided 65 days
  9. Full applications 264 decided 66 days
  10. Lawful development 15 decided 84 days

How these types compare nationally

What Oxford decides

Year to December 2026

Oxford issued 1,081 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 92% were approvals: 939 granted against 78 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 Oxford?

The median planning application decided by Oxford in the year to December 2026 took 46 days from submission to decision, 10 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,081 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.

Does Oxford meet the eight week target?

68% of the 1,081 decisions Oxford made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 92% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 86 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Oxford faster or slower than average?

Oxford is faster than average: its median of 46 days is 11 days below the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does Oxford approve?

92% of the clear-cut outcomes Oxford issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 939 granted against 78 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Oxford planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 46 days from application to decision (10 days inside the eight week target), across 1,081 decisions with both dates published. 68% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 92% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 86 days. 92% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.

Or take the data itself: this council's history (CSV) or the full league table (CSV).

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