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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in Sevenoaks

56 days. Ranked 125 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Sevenoaks took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 2,064 decisions where the council published both dates.

56 days
Median decision exactly the eight week target
125 of 343
UK rank First measured window
53%
Within eight weeks 84% within thirteen
109 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Sevenoaks compares

Year to September 2026

Sevenoaks sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 53%.

The average here is 63 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 109 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 1,084 53%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 658 32%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 322 16%

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.

Sevenoaks: 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 56 125 of 343
June 2026 55 116 of 328
March 2026 52 86 of 243
December 2025 51 110 of 236

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 30 decided 28 days
  2. Trees 444 decided 28 days
  3. Outline 45 decided 37 days
  4. Amendments 104 decided 40 days
  5. Prior approval 21 decided 53 days
  6. Conditions 654 decided 55 days
  7. Lawful development 139 decided 62 days
  8. Householder 399 decided 79 days
  9. Heritage and listed buildings 82 decided 81 days
  10. Full applications 139 decided 108 days

How these types compare nationally

What Sevenoaks decides

Year to September 2026

Sevenoaks issued 2,064 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 90% were approvals: 1,748 granted against 201 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 Sevenoaks?

The median planning application decided by Sevenoaks in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 2,064 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 125 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Sevenoaks meet the eight week target?

53% of the 2,064 decisions Sevenoaks made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 84% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 109 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Sevenoaks faster or slower than average?

Sevenoaks sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.

What proportion of applications does Sevenoaks approve?

90% of the clear-cut outcomes Sevenoaks issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 1,748 granted against 201 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Sevenoaks planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 2,064 decisions with both dates published. 53% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 84% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 109 days. Ranked 125 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 90% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.