Decision times · London
How long planning decisions take in Tower Hamlets
56 days. Ranked 134 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Tower Hamlets took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,543 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Tower Hamlets compares
Year to September 2026
Tower Hamlets sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 62%.
The average here is 68 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 113 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 960 62%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 336 22%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 247 16%
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 | 56 | 134 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 55 | 122 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 54 | 117 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 53 | 133 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 26 | 10 of 324 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 26 days, Tower Hamlets has moved down 124 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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Trees 129 decided 41 days
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Amendments 178 decided 45 days
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Outline 60 decided 50 days
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Advertising 98 decided 56 days
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Full applications 510 decided 56 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 122 decided 56 days
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Conditions 380 decided 68 days
What Tower Hamlets decides
Year to September 2026
Tower Hamlets issued 1,544 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 91% were approvals: 1,390 granted against 142 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 Tower Hamlets?
The median planning application decided by Tower Hamlets in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,543 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 134 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Tower Hamlets meet the eight week target?
62% of the 1,543 decisions Tower Hamlets made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 84% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 113 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Tower Hamlets faster or slower than average?
Tower Hamlets sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.
Is Tower Hamlets getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 26 days, Tower Hamlets has moved down 124 places in the table. Its median has risen by 30 days.
What proportion of applications does Tower Hamlets approve?
91% of the clear-cut outcomes Tower Hamlets issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 1,390 granted against 142 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
Click the text to select the whole citation.
Tower Hamlets planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 1,543 decisions with both dates published. 62% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 84% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 113 days. Ranked 134 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 91% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.