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Decision times · West Midlands

How long planning decisions take in Solihull

68 days. Ranked 35 of 45.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Solihull took 68 days from submission to decision — 12 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,105 decisions where the council published both dates.

68 days
Median decision 12 days beyond the eight week target
35 of 45
UK rank down 12 places in a year
41%
Within eight weeks 63% within thirteen
225 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Solihull compares

Year to December 2026

Solihull takes longer than the country as a whole: 11 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 41%.

The average here is 110 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 225 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 455 41%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 243 22%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 407 37%

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.

Solihull: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
December 2026 68 35 of 45
September 2026 74 49 of 56
March 2026 200 38 of 38
December 2025 153 23 of 24
September 2025 80 24 of 27
June 2025 67 26 of 31
March 2025 61 22 of 30
December 2024 59 35 of 57

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 153 days, Solihull has moved down 12 places in the table.

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.

  1. Prior approval 56 decided 41 days
  2. Lawful development 93 decided 55 days
  3. Advertising 21 decided 56 days
  4. Amendments 55 decided 57 days
  5. Householder 221 decided 65 days
  6. Trees 120 decided 99 days
  7. Conditions 66 decided 104 days
  8. Full applications 118 decided 180 days
  9. Outline 18 decided 220 days

How these types compare nationally

What Solihull decides

Year to December 2026

Solihull issued 1,105 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 88% were approvals: 941 granted against 126 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 Solihull?

The median planning application decided by Solihull in the year to December 2026 took 68 days from submission to decision, 12 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,105 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 35 of 45 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Solihull meet the eight week target?

41% of the 1,105 decisions Solihull made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 63% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 225 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Solihull faster or slower than average?

Solihull is slower than average: its median of 68 days is 11 days above the national median of 57 days.

Is Solihull getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 153 days, Solihull has moved down 12 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 85 days.

What proportion of applications does Solihull approve?

88% of the clear-cut outcomes Solihull issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 941 granted against 126 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Solihull planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 68 days from application to decision (12 days beyond the eight week target), across 1,105 decisions with both dates published. 41% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 63% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 225 days. Ranked 35 of 45 UK councils on decision speed (national median 57 days). 88% 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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