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Decision times · North West

How long planning decisions take in St. Helens

80 days. Ranked 305 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by St. Helens took 80 days from submission to decision — 24 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 351 decisions where the council published both dates.

80 days
Median decision 24 days beyond the eight week target
305 of 343
UK rank down 79 places in a year
23%
Within eight weeks 56% within thirteen
343 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How St. Helens compares

Year to September 2026

St. Helens takes longer than the country as a whole: 24 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 23%.

The average here is 153 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 343 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 82 23%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 114 32%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 155 44%

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.

St. Helens: 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 80 305 of 343
June 2026 69 277 of 328
March 2026 66 211 of 243
December 2025 63 198 of 236
September 2025 61 226 of 324
June 2025 59 178 of 313
March 2025 59 180 of 315
December 2024 61 210 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 61 days, St. Helens has moved down 79 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 10 decided 48 days
  2. Lawful development 20 decided 56 days
  3. Advertising 11 decided 60 days
  4. Trees 10 decided 61 days
  5. Householder 89 decided 63 days
  6. Amendments 29 decided 85 days
  7. Full applications 76 decided 135 days
  8. Conditions 95 decided 147 days

How these types compare nationally

What St. Helens decides

Year to September 2026

St. Helens issued 351 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 93% were approvals: 298 granted against 23 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 St. Helens?

The median planning application decided by St. Helens in the year to September 2026 took 80 days from submission to decision, 24 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 351 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 305 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does St. Helens meet the eight week target?

23% of the 351 decisions St. Helens made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 56% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 343 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is St. Helens faster or slower than average?

St. Helens is slower than average: its median of 80 days is 24 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is St. Helens getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 61 days, St. Helens has moved down 79 places in the table. Its median has risen by 19 days.

What proportion of applications does St. Helens approve?

93% of the clear-cut outcomes St. Helens issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 298 granted against 23 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

St. Helens planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 80 days from application to decision (24 days beyond the eight week target), across 351 decisions with both dates published. 23% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 56% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 343 days. Ranked 305 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 93% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.