Decision times · East of England
How long planning decisions take in Three Rivers
57 days. Ranked 180 of 343.
In the year to September 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 779 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Three Rivers compares
Year to September 2026
Three Rivers takes longer than the country as a whole: 1 day above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 50%.
The average here is 79 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.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 389 50%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 261 34%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 129 17%
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 | 57 | 180 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 56 | 162 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 56 | 159 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 56 | 168 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 56 | 157 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 56 | 116 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 55 | 85 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 55 | 84 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 56 days, Three Rivers has moved down 23 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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Outline 43 decided 36 days
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Trees 135 decided 40 days
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Lawful development 71 decided 53 days
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Conditions 83 decided 54 days
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Full applications 343 decided 62 days
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Amendments 69 decided 70 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 18 decided 103 days
What Three Rivers decides
Year to September 2026
Three Rivers issued 779 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 89% were approvals: 579 granted against 73 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 September 2026 took 57 days from submission to decision, 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 779 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 180 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Three Rivers meet the eight week target?
50% of the 779 decisions Three Rivers made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 83% 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 is slower than average: its median of 57 days is 1 day above the national median of 56 days.
Is Three Rivers getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 56 days, Three Rivers has moved down 23 places in the table. Its median has risen by 1 day.
What proportion of applications does Three Rivers approve?
89% of the clear-cut outcomes Three Rivers issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 579 granted against 73 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 September 2026: median 57 days from application to decision (1 day beyond the eight week target), across 779 decisions with both dates published. 50% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 83% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 129 days. Ranked 180 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 89% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.