Decision times · North West
How long planning decisions take in Pendle
53 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Pendle took 53 days from submission to decision — 3 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 367 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.
How Pendle compares
Year to December 2026
Pendle decides faster than the country as a whole: 4 days below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 60%.
The average here is 74 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 151 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 222 60%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 71 19%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 74 20%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 52 | 11 of 57 |
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.
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Trees 60 decided 10 days
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Amendments 19 decided 47 days
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Lawful development 14 decided 52 days
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Householder 96 decided 54 days
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Advertising 11 decided 60 days
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Conditions 41 decided 60 days
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Full applications 93 decided 62 days
What Pendle decides
Year to December 2026
Pendle issued 367 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 90% were approvals: 291 granted against 33 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 Pendle?
The median planning application decided by Pendle in the year to December 2026 took 53 days from submission to decision, 3 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 367 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Pendle meet the eight week target?
60% of the 367 decisions Pendle made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 80% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 151 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Pendle faster or slower than average?
Pendle is faster than average: its median of 53 days is 4 days below the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Pendle approve?
90% of the clear-cut outcomes Pendle issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 291 granted against 33 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Pendle planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 53 days from application to decision (3 days inside the eight week target), across 367 decisions with both dates published. 60% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 80% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 151 days. 90% 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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<iframe src="https://planindex.co.uk/embed/decision-times/pendle" title="Planning decision times in Pendle" width="100%" height="215" loading="lazy" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p>Data: <a href="https://planindex.co.uk/planning-decision-times/pendle">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>