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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in Test Valley

52 days. Ranked 57 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Test Valley took 52 days from submission to decision — 4 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,420 decisions where the council published both dates.

52 days
Median decision 4 days inside the eight week target
57 of 343
UK rank down 24 places in a year
65%
Within eight weeks 89% within thirteen
94 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Test Valley compares

Year to September 2026

Test Valley decides faster than the country as a whole: 4 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 65%.

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, 94 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 924 65%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 341 24%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 155 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.

Test Valley: 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 52 57 of 343
June 2026 49 41 of 328
March 2026 47 39 of 243
December 2025 43 45 of 236
September 2025 40 33 of 324
June 2025 51 41 of 313
March 2025 51 43 of 315
December 2024 51 47 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 40 days, Test Valley has moved down 24 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. Other 23 decided 29 days
  2. Trees 520 decided 36 days
  3. Outline 19 decided 38 days
  4. Prior approval 21 decided 46 days
  5. Lawful development 77 decided 54 days
  6. Advertising 15 decided 55 days
  7. Heritage and listed buildings 130 decided 55 days
  8. Amendments 49 decided 56 days
  9. Full applications 556 decided 57 days

How these types compare nationally

What Test Valley decides

Year to September 2026

Test Valley issued 1,420 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 85% were approvals: 564 granted against 100 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 Test Valley?

The median planning application decided by Test Valley in the year to September 2026 took 52 days from submission to decision, 4 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,420 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 57 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Test Valley meet the eight week target?

65% of the 1,420 decisions Test Valley 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 94 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Test Valley faster or slower than average?

Test Valley is faster than average: its median of 52 days is 4 days below the national median of 56 days.

Is Test Valley getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 40 days, Test Valley has moved down 24 places in the table. Its median has risen by 12 days.

What proportion of applications does Test Valley approve?

85% of the clear-cut outcomes Test Valley issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 564 granted against 100 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Test Valley planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 52 days from application to decision (4 days inside the eight week target), across 1,420 decisions with both dates published. 65% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 89% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 94 days. Ranked 57 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 85% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.