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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in Slough

56 days. Ranked 145 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Slough took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,004 decisions where the council published both dates.

56 days
Median decision exactly the eight week target
145 of 343
UK rank up 83 places in a year
56%
Within eight weeks 84% within thirteen
110 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Slough compares

Year to September 2026

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

The average here is 66 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 110 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 566 56%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 282 28%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 156 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.

Slough: 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 56 145 of 343
June 2026 55 129 of 328
March 2026 55 142 of 243
December 2025 51 115 of 236
September 2025 61 228 of 324
June 2025 69 252 of 313
March 2025 70 260 of 315
December 2024 68 259 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 61 days, Slough has moved up 83 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. Trees 16 decided 36 days
  2. Prior approval 156 decided 37 days
  3. Amendments 26 decided 43 days
  4. Advertising 20 decided 57 days
  5. Full applications 474 decided 58 days

How these types compare nationally

What Slough decides

Year to September 2026

Slough issued 1,005 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 78% were approvals: 650 granted against 180 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 Slough?

The median planning application decided by Slough in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,004 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 145 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Slough meet the eight week target?

56% of the 1,004 decisions Slough 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 110 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Slough faster or slower than average?

Slough sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.

Is Slough getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 61 days, Slough has moved up 83 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 5 days.

What proportion of applications does Slough approve?

78% of the clear-cut outcomes Slough issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 650 granted against 180 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Slough planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 1,004 decisions with both dates published. 56% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 84% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 110 days. Ranked 145 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 78% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.