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Decision times · South West

How long planning decisions take in Plymouth

56 days. Ranked 150 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Plymouth took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 910 decisions where the council published both dates.

56 days
Median decision exactly the eight week target
150 of 343
UK rank down 64 places in a year
50%
Within eight weeks 82% within thirteen
117 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Plymouth compares

Year to September 2026

Plymouth sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 50%.

The average here is 72 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 117 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 456 50%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 288 32%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 166 18%

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.

Plymouth: 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 56 150 of 343
June 2026 54 103 of 328
March 2026 51 80 of 243
December 2025 48 77 of 236
September 2025 51 86 of 324
June 2025 53 64 of 313
March 2025 54 76 of 315
December 2024 54 77 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 51 days, Plymouth has moved down 64 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.

  1. Trees 174 decided 43 days
  2. Amendments 93 decided 48 days
  3. Advertising 21 decided 49 days
  4. Householder 43 decided 50 days
  5. Conditions 62 decided 53 days
  6. Outline 114 decided 61 days
  7. Full applications 334 decided 64 days
  8. Heritage and listed buildings 58 decided 71 days

How these types compare nationally

What Plymouth decides

Year to September 2026

Plymouth issued 910 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 92% were approvals: 572 granted against 49 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 Plymouth?

The median planning application decided by Plymouth in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 910 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 150 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Plymouth meet the eight week target?

50% of the 910 decisions Plymouth made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 82% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 117 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Plymouth faster or slower than average?

Plymouth sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.

Is Plymouth getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 51 days, Plymouth has moved down 64 places in the table. Its median has risen by 5 days.

What proportion of applications does Plymouth approve?

92% of the clear-cut outcomes Plymouth issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 572 granted against 49 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Plymouth planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 910 decisions with both dates published. 50% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 82% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 117 days. Ranked 150 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 92% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.