Decision times · North West
How long planning decisions take in Sefton
62 days. Ranked 233 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Sefton took 62 days from submission to decision — 6 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 243 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Sefton compares
Year to September 2026
Sefton takes longer than the country as a whole: 6 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 44%.
The average here is 88 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 147 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 107 44%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 78 32%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 58 24%
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.
| Twelve months to | Median days | UK rank |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | 62 | 233 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 72 | 285 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 59 | 216 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 59 | 183 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 59 | 186 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 59 | 196 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 59 days, Sefton has moved down 17 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.
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Trees 40 decided 35 days
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Prior approval 12 decided 38 days
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Outline 11 decided 50 days
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Lawful development 34 decided 59 days
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Conditions 22 decided 74 days
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Full applications 113 decided 77 days
What Sefton decides
Year to September 2026
Sefton issued 243 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 88% were approvals: 199 granted against 26 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 Sefton?
The median planning application decided by Sefton in the year to September 2026 took 62 days from submission to decision, 6 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 243 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 233 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Sefton meet the eight week target?
44% of the 243 decisions Sefton made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 76% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 147 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Sefton faster or slower than average?
Sefton is slower than average: its median of 62 days is 6 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Sefton getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 59 days, Sefton has moved down 17 places in the table. Its median has risen by 3 days.
What proportion of applications does Sefton approve?
88% of the clear-cut outcomes Sefton issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 199 granted against 26 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
Click the text to select the whole citation.
Sefton planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 62 days from application to decision (6 days beyond the eight week target), across 243 decisions with both dates published. 44% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 76% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 147 days. Ranked 233 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 88% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.