Decision times · Wales
How long planning decisions take in Vale of Glamorgan
63 days. Ranked 241 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Vale of Glamorgan took 63 days from submission to decision — 7 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 980 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Vale of Glamorgan compares
Year to September 2026
Vale of Glamorgan takes longer than the country as a whole: 7 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 43%.
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, 142 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 425 43%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 287 29%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 268 27%
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 | 63 | 241 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 59 | 226 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 56 | 164 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 49 | 94 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 56 | 183 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 70 | 260 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 70 | 262 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 70 | 269 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 56 days, Vale of Glamorgan has moved down 58 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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Prior approval 11 decided 22 days
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Amendments 50 decided 26 days
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Outline 18 decided 28 days
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Conditions 128 decided 39 days
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Trees 104 decided 42 days
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Lawful development 67 decided 65 days
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Advertising 16 decided 72 days
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Full applications 551 decided 75 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 23 decided 91 days
What Vale of Glamorgan decides
Year to September 2026
Vale of Glamorgan issued 980 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 91% were approvals: 825 granted against 81 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 Vale of Glamorgan?
The median planning application decided by Vale of Glamorgan in the year to September 2026 took 63 days from submission to decision, 7 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 980 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 241 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Vale of Glamorgan meet the eight week target?
43% of the 980 decisions Vale of Glamorgan made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 73% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 142 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Vale of Glamorgan faster or slower than average?
Vale of Glamorgan is slower than average: its median of 63 days is 7 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Vale of Glamorgan getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 56 days, Vale of Glamorgan has moved down 58 places in the table. Its median has risen by 7 days.
What proportion of applications does Vale of Glamorgan approve?
91% of the clear-cut outcomes Vale of Glamorgan issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 825 granted against 81 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Vale of Glamorgan planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 63 days from application to decision (7 days beyond the eight week target), across 980 decisions with both dates published. 43% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 73% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 142 days. Ranked 241 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 91% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.