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Decision times · South West

How long planning decisions take in Torridge

57 days. Ranked 179 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Torridge took 57 days from submission to decision — 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 812 decisions where the council published both dates.

57 days
Median decision 1 day beyond the eight week target
179 of 343
UK rank up 22 places in a year
50%
Within eight weeks 81% within thirteen
134 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Torridge compares

Year to September 2026

Torridge 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 71 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 404 50%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 255 31%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 153 19%

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.

Torridge: 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 57 179 of 343
June 2026 56 171 of 328
March 2026 55 144 of 243
December 2025 51 116 of 236
September 2025 57 201 of 324
June 2025 64 227 of 313
March 2025 63 223 of 315
December 2024 60 201 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 57 days, Torridge has moved up 22 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. Other 109 decided 27 days
  2. Trees 56 decided 35 days
  3. Householder 11 decided 51 days
  4. Outline 20 decided 54 days
  5. Conditions 97 decided 55 days
  6. Lawful development 40 decided 56 days
  7. Heritage and listed buildings 48 decided 63 days
  8. Full applications 366 decided 65 days
  9. Advertising 10 decided 82 days

How these types compare nationally

What Torridge decides

Year to September 2026

Torridge issued 812 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 93% were approvals: 689 granted against 52 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 Torridge?

The median planning application decided by Torridge in the year to September 2026 took 57 days from submission to decision, 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 812 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 179 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Torridge meet the eight week target?

50% of the 812 decisions Torridge made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 81% 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 Torridge faster or slower than average?

Torridge is slower than average: its median of 57 days is 1 day above the national median of 56 days.

Is Torridge getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 57 days, Torridge has moved up 22 places in the table. Its median has not changed.

What proportion of applications does Torridge approve?

93% of the clear-cut outcomes Torridge issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 689 granted against 52 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Torridge planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 57 days from application to decision (1 day beyond the eight week target), across 812 decisions with both dates published. 50% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 81% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 134 days. Ranked 179 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 93% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.