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Decision times · South West

How long planning decisions take in Torbay

62 days. Ranked 230 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Torbay took 62 days from submission to decision — 6 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 725 decisions where the council published both dates.

62 days
Median decision 6 days beyond the eight week target
230 of 343
UK rank down 20 places in a year
40%
Within eight weeks 75% within thirteen
137 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Torbay compares

Year to September 2026

Torbay takes longer than the country as a whole: 6 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 40%.

The average here is 74 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 137 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 288 40%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 254 35%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 183 25%

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.

Torbay: 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 62 230 of 343
June 2026 60 229 of 328
March 2026 57 181 of 243
December 2025 54 155 of 236
September 2025 58 210 of 324
June 2025 60 193 of 313
March 2025 59 183 of 315
December 2024 59 190 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 58 days, Torbay has moved down 20 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. Telecoms 38 decided 23 days
  2. Trees 255 decided 50 days
  3. Prior approval 15 decided 57 days
  4. Amendments 57 decided 59 days
  5. Other 14 decided 63 days
  6. Advertising 15 decided 70 days
  7. Heritage and listed buildings 18 decided 76 days
  8. Lawful development 34 decided 81 days
  9. Householder 180 decided 89 days
  10. Full applications 91 decided 105 days

How these types compare nationally

What Torbay decides

Year to September 2026

Torbay issued 725 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 80% were approvals: 497 granted against 122 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 Torbay?

The median planning application decided by Torbay in the year to September 2026 took 62 days from submission to decision, 6 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 725 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 230 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Torbay meet the eight week target?

40% of the 725 decisions Torbay made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 75% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 137 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Torbay faster or slower than average?

Torbay is slower than average: its median of 62 days is 6 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is Torbay getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 58 days, Torbay has moved down 20 places in the table. Its median has risen by 4 days.

What proportion of applications does Torbay approve?

80% of the clear-cut outcomes Torbay issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 497 granted against 122 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Torbay planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 62 days from application to decision (6 days beyond the eight week target), across 725 decisions with both dates published. 40% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 75% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 137 days. Ranked 230 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 80% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.