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Decision times · North West

How long planning decisions take in Rochdale

55 days. Ranked 114 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Rochdale took 55 days from submission to decision — 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 300 decisions where the council published both dates.

55 days
Median decision 1 day inside the eight week target
114 of 343
UK rank up 153 places in a year
57%
Within eight weeks 79% within thirteen
160 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Rochdale compares

Year to September 2026

Rochdale decides faster than the country as a whole: 1 day below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 57%.

The average here is 85 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 160 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 170 57%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 67 22%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 63 21%

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.

Rochdale: 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 55 114 of 343
June 2026 57 210 of 328
March 2026 56 175 of 243
December 2025 72 212 of 236
September 2025 68 267 of 324
June 2025 68 247 of 313
March 2025 69 254 of 315
December 2024 68 258 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 68 days, Rochdale has moved up 153 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. Prior approval 22 decided 41 days
  2. Lawful development 27 decided 46 days
  3. Trees 10 decided 48 days
  4. Amendments 23 decided 53 days
  5. Householder 85 decided 55 days
  6. Full applications 61 decided 70 days
  7. Conditions 51 decided 77 days
  8. Heritage and listed buildings 11 decided 77 days

How these types compare nationally

What Rochdale decides

Year to September 2026

Rochdale issued 300 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 91% were approvals: 252 granted against 25 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 Rochdale?

The median planning application decided by Rochdale in the year to September 2026 took 55 days from submission to decision, 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 300 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 114 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Rochdale meet the eight week target?

57% of the 300 decisions Rochdale made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 79% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 160 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Rochdale faster or slower than average?

Rochdale is faster than average: its median of 55 days is 1 day below the national median of 56 days.

Is Rochdale getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 68 days, Rochdale has moved up 153 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 13 days.

What proportion of applications does Rochdale approve?

91% of the clear-cut outcomes Rochdale issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 252 granted against 25 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Rochdale planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 55 days from application to decision (1 day inside the eight week target), across 300 decisions with both dates published. 57% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 79% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 160 days. Ranked 114 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 91% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.