Decision times · South East
How long planning decisions take in Sevenoaks
60 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Sevenoaks took 60 days from submission to decision — 4 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,924 decisions where the council published both dates.
This council carries a figure but no rank
Not ranked yet: our records do not yet pass the historical coverage, monthly continuity, missing-date and refresh checks for this window. The figure above is still what the published dates say; it is left out of the league table so it cannot distort the ranking. See the methodology.
How Sevenoaks compares
Year to December 2026
Sevenoaks takes longer than the country as a whole: 3 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 47%.
The average here is 68 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 119 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 910 47%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 645 34%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 369 19%
By type of application
Year to December 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 320 decided 18 days
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Other 17 decided 28 days
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Prior approval 20 decided 48 days
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Outline 35 decided 49 days
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Amendments 92 decided 53 days
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Conditions 493 decided 56 days
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Lawful development 106 decided 62 days
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Householder 341 decided 82 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 65 decided 83 days
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Full applications 136 decided 115 days
What Sevenoaks decides
Year to December 2026
Sevenoaks issued 1,924 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 89% were approvals: 1,634 granted against 197 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 December 2026 took 60 days from submission to decision, 4 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,924 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Sevenoaks meet the eight week target?
47% of the 1,924 decisions Sevenoaks made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 81% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 119 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 is slower than average: its median of 60 days is 3 days above the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Sevenoaks approve?
89% of the clear-cut outcomes Sevenoaks issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 1,634 granted against 197 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 December 2026: median 60 days from application to decision (4 days beyond the eight week target), across 1,924 decisions with both dates published. 47% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 81% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 119 days. 89% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Or take the data itself: this council's history (CSV) or the full league table (CSV).
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<p>Data: <a href="https://planindex.co.uk/planning-decision-times/sevenoaks">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>