Decision times · South East
How long planning decisions take in Swale
56 days.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Swale took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 120 decisions where the council published both dates.
This council carries a figure but no rank
Not ranked yet: our records do not yet pass the historical coverage, monthly continuity, missing-date and refresh checks for this window. The figure above is still what the published dates say; it is left out of the league table so it cannot distort the ranking. See the methodology.
How Swale compares
Year to September 2026
Swale takes longer than the country as a whole: 1 day above the national median of 55 days. Nationally 58% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 68%.
The average here is 58 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 91 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 82 68%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 26 22%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 12 10%
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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Trees 14 decided 27 days
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Full applications 47 decided 56 days
Common questions
How long does a planning decision take in Swale?
The median planning application decided by Swale in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 120 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Swale meet the eight week target?
68% of the 120 decisions Swale made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 90% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 91 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Swale faster or slower than average?
Swale is slower than average: its median of 56 days is 1 day above the national median of 55 days.
Cite these figures
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Swale planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 120 decisions with both dates published. 68% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 90% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 91 days. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.