Decision times · South East
How long planning decisions take in Thanet
66 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Thanet took 66 days from submission to decision — 10 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 654 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 Thanet compares
Year to December 2026
Thanet takes longer than the country as a whole: 9 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 31%.
The average here is 85 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 139 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 203 31%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 273 42%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 178 27%
By type of application
Year to December 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 102 decided 56 days
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Conditions 107 decided 57 days
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Lawful development 37 decided 59 days
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Householder 185 decided 62 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 44 decided 84 days
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Full applications 151 decided 90 days
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Advertising 11 decided 98 days
What Thanet decides
Year to December 2026
Thanet issued 654 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 93% were approvals: 591 granted against 45 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 Thanet?
The median planning application decided by Thanet in the year to December 2026 took 66 days from submission to decision, 10 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 654 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Thanet meet the eight week target?
31% of the 654 decisions Thanet made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 73% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 139 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Thanet faster or slower than average?
Thanet is slower than average: its median of 66 days is 9 days above the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Thanet approve?
93% of the clear-cut outcomes Thanet issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 591 granted against 45 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Thanet planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 66 days from application to decision (10 days beyond the eight week target), across 654 decisions with both dates published. 31% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 73% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 139 days. 93% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Or take the data itself: this council's history (CSV) or the full league table (CSV).
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<p>Data: <a href="https://planindex.co.uk/planning-decision-times/thanet">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>