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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in Southampton

54 days. Ranked 83 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Southampton took 54 days from submission to decision — 2 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,132 decisions where the council published both dates.

54 days
Median decision 2 days inside the eight week target
83 of 343
UK rank up 40 places in a year
68%
Within eight weeks 89% within thirteen
98 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Southampton compares

Year to September 2026

Southampton decides faster than the country as a whole: 2 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 68%.

The average here is 70 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 770 68%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 232 20%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 130 11%

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.

Southampton: 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 54 83 of 343
June 2026 53 86 of 328
March 2026 52 87 of 243
December 2025 51 112 of 236
September 2025 54 123 of 324
June 2025 55 98 of 313
March 2025 56 137 of 315
December 2024 56 137 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 54 days, Southampton has moved up 40 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. Amendments 48 decided 29 days
  2. Prior approval 52 decided 39 days
  3. Trees 274 decided 48 days
  4. Heritage and listed buildings 16 decided 52 days
  5. Advertising 36 decided 53 days
  6. Full applications 481 decided 55 days
  7. Lawful development 98 decided 56 days
  8. Conditions 115 decided 64 days

How these types compare nationally

What Southampton decides

Year to September 2026

Southampton issued 1,132 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 90% were approvals: 979 granted against 108 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 Southampton?

The median planning application decided by Southampton in the year to September 2026 took 54 days from submission to decision, 2 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,132 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 83 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Southampton meet the eight week target?

68% of the 1,132 decisions Southampton made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 89% 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 Southampton faster or slower than average?

Southampton is faster than average: its median of 54 days is 2 days below the national median of 56 days.

Is Southampton getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 54 days, Southampton has moved up 40 places in the table. Its median has not changed.

What proportion of applications does Southampton approve?

90% of the clear-cut outcomes Southampton issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 979 granted against 108 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Southampton planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 54 days from application to decision (2 days inside the eight week target), across 1,132 decisions with both dates published. 68% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 89% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 98 days. Ranked 83 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 90% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.