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Decision times · East of England

How long planning decisions take in Thurrock

58 days. Ranked 202 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Thurrock took 58 days from submission to decision — 2 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 352 decisions where the council published both dates.

58 days
Median decision 2 days beyond the eight week target
202 of 343
UK rank down 27 places in a year
46%
Within eight weeks 80% within thirteen
134 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Thurrock compares

Year to September 2026

Thurrock takes longer than the country as a whole: 2 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 46%.

The average here is 96 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 134 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 162 46%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 118 34%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 72 20%

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.

Thurrock: 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 58 202 of 343
June 2026 57 208 of 328
September 2025 56 175 of 324
June 2025 57 158 of 313
March 2025 57 160 of 315
December 2024 57 167 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 56 days, Thurrock has moved down 27 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. Prior approval 22 decided 39 days
  2. Lawful development 60 decided 49 days
  3. Advertising 10 decided 57 days
  4. Trees 11 decided 59 days
  5. Householder 98 decided 60 days
  6. Conditions 44 decided 61 days
  7. Amendments 10 decided 63 days
  8. Full applications 69 decided 87 days

How these types compare nationally

What Thurrock decides

Year to September 2026

Thurrock issued 352 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 83% were approvals: 251 granted against 51 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 Thurrock?

The median planning application decided by Thurrock in the year to September 2026 took 58 days from submission to decision, 2 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 352 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 202 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Thurrock meet the eight week target?

46% of the 352 decisions Thurrock made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 80% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 134 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Thurrock faster or slower than average?

Thurrock is slower than average: its median of 58 days is 2 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is Thurrock getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 56 days, Thurrock has moved down 27 places in the table. Its median has risen by 2 days.

What proportion of applications does Thurrock approve?

83% of the clear-cut outcomes Thurrock issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 251 granted against 51 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Thurrock planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 58 days from application to decision (2 days beyond the eight week target), across 352 decisions with both dates published. 46% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 80% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 134 days. Ranked 202 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 83% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.