Decision times · London
How long planning decisions take in Sutton
56 days. Ranked 138 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Sutton took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,273 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Sutton compares
Year to September 2026
Sutton sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 57%.
The average here is 67 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 106 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 724 57%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 380 30%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 169 13%
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 | 56 | 138 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 56 | 159 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 55 | 138 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 54 | 150 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 55 | 141 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 55 | 107 of 313 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 55 days, Sutton has moved up 3 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.
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Conditions 140 decided 50 days
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Trees 97 decided 50 days
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Amendments 85 decided 54 days
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Outline 246 decided 55 days
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Householder 508 decided 56 days
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Full applications 150 decided 92 days
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Advertising 25 decided 123 days
What Sutton decides
Year to September 2026
Sutton issued 1,273 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 88% were approvals: 959 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 Sutton?
The median planning application decided by Sutton in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,273 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 138 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Sutton meet the eight week target?
57% of the 1,273 decisions Sutton made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 87% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 106 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Sutton faster or slower than average?
Sutton sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.
Is Sutton getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 55 days, Sutton has moved up 3 places in the table. Its median has risen by 1 day.
What proportion of applications does Sutton approve?
88% of the clear-cut outcomes Sutton issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 959 granted against 130 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Sutton planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 1,273 decisions with both dates published. 57% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 87% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 106 days. Ranked 138 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 88% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.