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Decision times · East of England

How long planning decisions take in South Cambridgeshire

58 days. Ranked 198 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by South Cambridgeshire took 58 days from submission to decision — 2 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 840 decisions where the council published both dates.

58 days
Median decision 2 days beyond the eight week target
198 of 343
UK rank down 63 places in a year
48%
Within eight weeks 66% within thirteen
186 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How South Cambridgeshire compares

Year to September 2026

South Cambridgeshire takes longer than the country as a whole: 2 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 48%.

The average here is 90 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 186 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 406 48%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 151 18%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 283 34%

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.

South Cambridgeshire: 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 58 198 of 343
June 2026 105 321 of 328
March 2026 134 231 of 243
December 2025 117 221 of 236
September 2025 55 135 of 324
June 2025 55 89 of 313
March 2025 55 91 of 315
December 2024 55 92 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 55 days, South Cambridgeshire has moved down 63 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 95 decided 40 days
  2. Prior approval 15 decided 41 days
  3. Lawful development 26 decided 54 days
  4. Householder 159 decided 55 days
  5. Amendments 72 decided 56 days
  6. Conditions 234 decided 56 days
  7. Heritage and listed buildings 64 decided 67 days
  8. Full applications 132 decided 134 days
  9. Outline 13 decided 136 days
  10. Reserved matters 15 decided 148 days

How these types compare nationally

What South Cambridgeshire decides

Year to September 2026

South Cambridgeshire issued 840 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 90% were approvals: 508 granted against 57 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 South Cambridgeshire?

The median planning application decided by South Cambridgeshire in the year to September 2026 took 58 days from submission to decision, 2 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 840 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 198 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does South Cambridgeshire meet the eight week target?

48% of the 840 decisions South Cambridgeshire made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 66% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 186 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is South Cambridgeshire faster or slower than average?

South Cambridgeshire is slower than average: its median of 58 days is 2 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is South Cambridgeshire getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 55 days, South Cambridgeshire has moved down 63 places in the table. Its median has risen by 3 days.

What proportion of applications does South Cambridgeshire approve?

90% of the clear-cut outcomes South Cambridgeshire issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 508 granted against 57 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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South Cambridgeshire planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 58 days from application to decision (2 days beyond the eight week target), across 840 decisions with both dates published. 48% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 66% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 186 days. Ranked 198 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 90% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.