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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in South Oxfordshire

53 days. Ranked 66 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by South Oxfordshire took 53 days from submission to decision — 3 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 2,518 decisions where the council published both dates.

53 days
Median decision 3 days inside the eight week target
66 of 343
UK rank unchanged in a year
60%
Within eight weeks 88% within thirteen
98 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How South Oxfordshire compares

Year to September 2026

South Oxfordshire decides faster than the country as a whole: 3 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 60%.

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, 98 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 1,503 60%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 707 28%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 308 12%

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 Oxfordshire: 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 53 66 of 343
June 2026 50 50 of 328
March 2026 46 33 of 243
December 2025 43 44 of 236
September 2025 49 66 of 324
June 2025 51 40 of 313
March 2025 51 42 of 315
December 2024 50 38 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 49 days, South Oxfordshire has moved unchanged 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. Telecoms 46 decided 20 days
  2. Trees 452 decided 21 days
  3. Other 101 decided 34 days
  4. Prior approval 14 decided 42 days
  5. Amendments 154 decided 43 days
  6. Outline 56 decided 47 days
  7. Conditions 512 decided 55 days
  8. Lawful development 147 decided 56 days
  9. Advertising 20 decided 57 days
  10. Heritage and listed buildings 155 decided 58 days
  11. Householder 651 decided 58 days
  12. Full applications 193 decided 84 days

How these types compare nationally

What South Oxfordshire decides

Year to September 2026

South Oxfordshire issued 2,518 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 86% were approvals: 801 granted against 130 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 Oxfordshire?

The median planning application decided by South Oxfordshire in the year to September 2026 took 53 days from submission to decision, 3 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 2,518 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 66 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does South Oxfordshire meet the eight week target?

60% of the 2,518 decisions South Oxfordshire made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 88% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 98 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 Oxfordshire faster or slower than average?

South Oxfordshire is faster than average: its median of 53 days is 3 days below the national median of 56 days.

Is South Oxfordshire getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 49 days, South Oxfordshire has moved unchanged in the table. Its median has risen by 4 days.

What proportion of applications does South Oxfordshire approve?

86% of the clear-cut outcomes South Oxfordshire issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 801 granted against 130 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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South Oxfordshire planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 53 days from application to decision (3 days inside the eight week target), across 2,518 decisions with both dates published. 60% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 88% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 98 days. Ranked 66 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 86% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.