Decision times · London
How long planning decisions take in Tower Hamlets
56 days.
In the year to December 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 1,426 decisions where the council published both dates.
This council carries a figure but no rank
Not ranked yet: our records do not yet pass the historical coverage, monthly continuity, missing-date and refresh checks for this window. The figure above is still what the published dates say; it is left out of the league table so it cannot distort the ranking. See the methodology.
How Tower Hamlets compares
Year to December 2026
Tower Hamlets decides faster than the country as a whole: 1 day below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 57%.
The average here is 73 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 125 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 818 57%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 324 23%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 284 20%
By type of application
Year to December 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 84 decided 41 days
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Amendments 149 decided 48 days
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Outline 40 decided 51 days
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Advertising 71 decided 56 days
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Full applications 350 decided 56 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 85 decided 56 days
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Conditions 333 decided 71 days
What Tower Hamlets decides
Year to December 2026
Tower Hamlets issued 1,426 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 91% were approvals: 1,291 granted against 126 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 December 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 1,426 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Tower Hamlets meet the eight week target?
57% of the 1,426 decisions Tower Hamlets made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 80% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 125 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 is faster than average: its median of 56 days is 1 day below the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Tower Hamlets approve?
91% of the clear-cut outcomes Tower Hamlets issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 1,291 granted against 126 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Tower Hamlets planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 1,426 decisions with both dates published. 57% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 80% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 125 days. 91% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Or take the data itself: this council's history (CSV) or the full league table (CSV).
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<script src="https://planindex.co.uk/embed/decision-times.js" data-council="tower-hamlets" defer></script>If your CMS strips scripts, use the frame directly:
<iframe src="https://planindex.co.uk/embed/decision-times/tower-hamlets" title="Planning decision times in Tower Hamlets" width="100%" height="215" loading="lazy" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p>Data: <a href="https://planindex.co.uk/planning-decision-times/tower-hamlets">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>