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Decision times · Wales

How long planning decisions take in Torfaen

55 days. Ranked 116 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Torfaen took 55 days from submission to decision — 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 286 decisions where the council published both dates.

55 days
Median decision 1 day inside the eight week target
116 of 343
UK rank down 80 places in a year
53%
Within eight weeks 78% within thirteen
195 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Torfaen compares

Year to September 2026

Torfaen decides faster than the country as a whole: 1 day below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 53%.

The average here is 80 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 195 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 153 53%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 69 24%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 64 22%

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.

Torfaen: 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 55 116 of 343
June 2026 52 76 of 328
March 2026 48 50 of 243
December 2025 42 42 of 236
September 2025 40 36 of 324
June 2025 59 187 of 313
March 2025 59 190 of 315
December 2024 60 207 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 40 days, Torfaen has moved down 80 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. Lawful development 30 decided 38 days
  2. Conditions 46 decided 41 days
  3. Amendments 24 decided 49 days
  4. Householder 82 decided 56 days
  5. Trees 17 decided 59 days
  6. Full applications 67 decided 77 days

How these types compare nationally

What Torfaen decides

Year to September 2026

Torfaen issued 286 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 92% were approvals: 245 granted against 20 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 Torfaen?

The median planning application decided by Torfaen in the year to September 2026 took 55 days from submission to decision, 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 286 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 116 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Torfaen meet the eight week target?

53% of the 286 decisions Torfaen made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 78% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 195 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Torfaen faster or slower than average?

Torfaen is faster than average: its median of 55 days is 1 day below the national median of 56 days.

Is Torfaen getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 40 days, Torfaen has moved down 80 places in the table. Its median has risen by 15 days.

What proportion of applications does Torfaen approve?

92% of the clear-cut outcomes Torfaen issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 245 granted against 20 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Torfaen planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 55 days from application to decision (1 day inside the eight week target), across 286 decisions with both dates published. 53% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 78% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 195 days. Ranked 116 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 92% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.