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Decision times · South West

How long planning decisions take in South Gloucestershire

55 days. Ranked 95 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by South Gloucestershire took 55 days from submission to decision — 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 2,226 decisions where the council published both dates.

55 days
Median decision 1 day inside the eight week target
95 of 343
UK rank up 34 places in a year
57%
Within eight weeks 82% within thirteen
122 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How South Gloucestershire compares

Year to September 2026

South Gloucestershire decides faster than the country as a whole: 1 day below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 57%.

The average here is 72 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 122 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 1,278 57%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 544 24%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 404 18%

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 Gloucestershire: 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 55 95 of 343
June 2026 53 81 of 328
March 2026 53 95 of 243
December 2025 49 88 of 236
September 2025 55 129 of 324
June 2025 57 152 of 313
March 2025 57 154 of 315
December 2024 57 158 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 55 days, South Gloucestershire has moved up 34 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. Prior approval 120 decided 36 days
  2. Trees 255 decided 41 days
  3. Conditions 343 decided 42 days
  4. Amendments 157 decided 51 days
  5. Lawful development 200 decided 52 days
  6. Other 22 decided 55 days
  7. Householder 568 decided 56 days
  8. Advertising 77 decided 57 days
  9. Outline 70 decided 59 days
  10. Heritage and listed buildings 63 decided 80 days
  11. Full applications 324 decided 84 days

How these types compare nationally

What South Gloucestershire decides

Year to September 2026

South Gloucestershire issued 2,226 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 88% were approvals: 1,591 granted against 216 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 Gloucestershire?

The median planning application decided by South Gloucestershire in the year to September 2026 took 55 days from submission to decision, 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 2,226 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 95 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does South Gloucestershire meet the eight week target?

57% of the 2,226 decisions South Gloucestershire made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 82% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 122 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 Gloucestershire faster or slower than average?

South Gloucestershire is faster than average: its median of 55 days is 1 day below the national median of 56 days.

Is South Gloucestershire getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 55 days, South Gloucestershire has moved up 34 places in the table. Its median has not changed.

What proportion of applications does South Gloucestershire approve?

88% of the clear-cut outcomes South Gloucestershire issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 1,591 granted against 216 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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South Gloucestershire planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 55 days from application to decision (1 day inside the eight week target), across 2,226 decisions with both dates published. 57% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 82% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 122 days. Ranked 95 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 88% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.