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Decision times · North West

How long planning decisions take in Salford

56 days. Ranked 146 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Salford took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 986 decisions where the council published both dates.

56 days
Median decision exactly the eight week target
146 of 343
UK rank up 2 places in a year
57%
Within eight weeks 83% within thirteen
118 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Salford compares

Year to September 2026

Salford sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 57%.

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, 118 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 564 57%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 250 25%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 172 17%

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.

Salford: 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 56 146 of 343
June 2026 56 164 of 328
March 2026 56 160 of 243
December 2025 56 167 of 236
September 2025 56 148 of 324
June 2025 56 114 of 313
March 2025 56 114 of 315
December 2024 56 116 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 56 days, Salford has moved up 2 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. Outline 12 decided 30 days
  2. Amendments 59 decided 46 days
  3. Conditions 241 decided 47 days
  4. Prior approval 34 decided 47 days
  5. Lawful development 81 decided 56 days
  6. Trees 87 decided 56 days
  7. Advertising 26 decided 60 days
  8. Householder 252 decided 62 days
  9. Heritage and listed buildings 15 decided 76 days
  10. Full applications 174 decided 77 days

How these types compare nationally

What Salford decides

Year to September 2026

Salford issued 986 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 85% were approvals: 587 granted against 100 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 Salford?

The median planning application decided by Salford in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 986 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 146 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Salford meet the eight week target?

57% of the 986 decisions Salford 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 118 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Salford faster or slower than average?

Salford sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.

Is Salford getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 56 days, Salford has moved up 2 places in the table. Its median has not changed.

What proportion of applications does Salford approve?

85% of the clear-cut outcomes Salford issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 587 granted against 100 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Salford planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 986 decisions with both dates published. 57% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 83% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 118 days. Ranked 146 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 85% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.