Decision times · South East
How long planning decisions take in Portsmouth
56 days.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Portsmouth took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 477 decisions where the council published both dates.
This council carries a figure but no rank
Not ranked yet: our records for this council begin on 25 July 2025, which is not far enough before this window to see its slower cases. 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 Portsmouth compares
Year to September 2026
Portsmouth sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 51%.
The average here is 67 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.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 243 51%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 151 32%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 83 17%
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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Amendments 37 decided 35 days
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Conditions 39 decided 44 days
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Prior approval 37 decided 52 days
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Trees 38 decided 54 days
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Householder 101 decided 56 days
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Lawful development 46 decided 57 days
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Advertising 32 decided 58 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 21 decided 69 days
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Full applications 112 decided 74 days
What Portsmouth decides
Year to September 2026
Portsmouth issued 477 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 80% were approvals: 224 granted against 55 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 Portsmouth?
The median planning application decided by Portsmouth in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 477 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Portsmouth meet the eight week target?
51% of the 477 decisions Portsmouth made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 83% 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 Portsmouth faster or slower than average?
Portsmouth sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.
What proportion of applications does Portsmouth approve?
80% of the clear-cut outcomes Portsmouth issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 224 granted against 55 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Portsmouth planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 477 decisions with both dates published. 51% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 83% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 117 days. 80% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.