Skip to content
PlanIndex Get alerts
Menu

Decision times · Wales

How long planning decisions take in Powys

63 days. Ranked 240 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Powys took 63 days from submission to decision — 7 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,010 decisions where the council published both dates.

63 days
Median decision 7 days beyond the eight week target
240 of 343
UK rank down 170 places in a year
42%
Within eight weeks 70% within thirteen
148 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Powys compares

Year to September 2026

Powys takes longer than the country as a whole: 7 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 42%.

The average here is 79 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 148 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 426 42%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 285 28%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 299 30%

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.

Powys: 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 63 240 of 343
June 2026 57 201 of 328
March 2026 55 139 of 243
December 2025 43 46 of 236
September 2025 49 70 of 324
June 2025 72 268 of 313
March 2025 75 279 of 315
December 2024 72 282 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 49 days, Powys has moved down 170 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. Other 107 decided 18 days
  2. Prior approval 41 decided 22 days
  3. Trees 24 decided 41 days
  4. Conditions 165 decided 54 days
  5. Amendments 100 decided 56 days
  6. Householder 154 decided 63 days
  7. Lawful development 43 decided 69 days
  8. Full applications 298 decided 95 days
  9. Heritage and listed buildings 55 decided 105 days

How these types compare nationally

What Powys decides

Year to September 2026

Powys issued 1,014 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 85% were approvals: 778 granted against 136 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 Powys?

The median planning application decided by Powys in the year to September 2026 took 63 days from submission to decision, 7 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,010 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 240 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Powys meet the eight week target?

42% of the 1,010 decisions Powys made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 70% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 148 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Powys faster or slower than average?

Powys is slower than average: its median of 63 days is 7 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is Powys getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 49 days, Powys has moved down 170 places in the table. Its median has risen by 14 days.

What proportion of applications does Powys approve?

85% of the clear-cut outcomes Powys issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 778 granted against 136 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Powys planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 63 days from application to decision (7 days beyond the eight week target), across 1,010 decisions with both dates published. 42% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 70% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 148 days. Ranked 240 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 85% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.