Decision times · West Midlands
How long planning decisions take in Staffordshire Moorlands
69 days. Ranked 273 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Staffordshire Moorlands took 69 days from submission to decision — 13 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 156 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Staffordshire Moorlands compares
Year to September 2026
Staffordshire Moorlands takes longer than the country as a whole: 13 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 33%.
The average here is 108 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 214 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
-
Within eight weeks the statutory target 51 33%
-
Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 53 34%
-
Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 52 33%
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.
| Twelve months to | Median days | UK rank |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | 69 | 273 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 63 | 261 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 70 | 278 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 69 | 253 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 71 | 270 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 71 | 277 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 70 days, Staffordshire Moorlands has moved up 5 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.
-
Other 10 decided 28 days
-
Outline 13 decided 44 days
-
Lawful development 10 decided 60 days
-
Conditions 13 decided 64 days
-
Householder 57 decided 74 days
-
Full applications 35 decided 80 days
What Staffordshire Moorlands decides
Year to September 2026
Staffordshire Moorlands issued 156 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 72% were approvals: 93 granted against 37 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 Staffordshire Moorlands?
The median planning application decided by Staffordshire Moorlands in the year to September 2026 took 69 days from submission to decision, 13 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 156 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 273 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Staffordshire Moorlands meet the eight week target?
33% of the 156 decisions Staffordshire Moorlands made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 67% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 214 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Staffordshire Moorlands faster or slower than average?
Staffordshire Moorlands is slower than average: its median of 69 days is 13 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Staffordshire Moorlands getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 70 days, Staffordshire Moorlands has moved up 5 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 1 day.
What proportion of applications does Staffordshire Moorlands approve?
72% of the clear-cut outcomes Staffordshire Moorlands issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 93 granted against 37 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
Click the text to select the whole citation.
Staffordshire Moorlands planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 69 days from application to decision (13 days beyond the eight week target), across 156 decisions with both dates published. 33% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 67% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 214 days. Ranked 273 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 72% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.