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Decision times · East of England

How long planning decisions take in Three Rivers

57 days.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Three Rivers took 57 days from submission to decision — 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 741 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.

57 days
Median decision 1 day beyond the eight week target
48%
Within eight weeks 84% within thirteen
129 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Three Rivers compares

Year to December 2026

Three Rivers sits exactly on the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 48%.

The average here is 82 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 129 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 356 48%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 267 36%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 118 16%

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.

Three Rivers: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
March 2026 56 16 of 38
December 2025 56 6 of 24
September 2025 56 6 of 27
June 2025 55 5 of 31
March 2025 55 5 of 30
December 2024 55 14 of 57

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.

  1. Trees 150 decided 35 days
  2. Outline 23 decided 39 days
  3. Lawful development 49 decided 55 days
  4. Conditions 43 decided 56 days
  5. Amendments 53 decided 63 days
  6. Full applications 323 decided 63 days
  7. Heritage and listed buildings 16 decided 121 days

How these types compare nationally

What Three Rivers decides

Year to December 2026

Three Rivers issued 741 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 89% were approvals: 576 granted against 74 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 Three Rivers?

The median planning application decided by Three Rivers in the year to December 2026 took 57 days from submission to decision, 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 741 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.

Does Three Rivers meet the eight week target?

48% of the 741 decisions Three Rivers made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 84% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 129 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Three Rivers faster or slower than average?

Three Rivers sits exactly on the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does Three Rivers approve?

89% of the clear-cut outcomes Three Rivers issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 576 granted against 74 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Three Rivers planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 57 days from application to decision (1 day beyond the eight week target), across 741 decisions with both dates published. 48% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 84% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 129 days. 89% 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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