Decision times · South East
How long planning decisions take in Vale of White Horse
59 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Vale of White Horse took 59 days from submission to decision — 3 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,612 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 Vale of White Horse compares
Year to December 2026
Vale of White Horse takes longer than the country as a whole: 2 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 47%.
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, 134 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 755 47%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 478 30%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 379 24%
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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Telecoms 51 decided 12 days
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Trees 278 decided 19 days
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Other 84 decided 28 days
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Outline 29 decided 42 days
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Amendments 63 decided 53 days
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Prior approval 10 decided 56 days
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Conditions 323 decided 62 days
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Lawful development 103 decided 62 days
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Householder 355 decided 77 days
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Advertising 25 decided 79 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 118 decided 84 days
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Full applications 155 decided 109 days
What Vale of White Horse decides
Year to December 2026
Vale of White Horse issued 1,612 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 94% were approvals: 1,130 granted against 77 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 White Horse?
The median planning application decided by Vale of White Horse in the year to December 2026 took 59 days from submission to decision, 3 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,612 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Vale of White Horse meet the eight week target?
47% of the 1,612 decisions Vale of White Horse made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 76% 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 Vale of White Horse faster or slower than average?
Vale of White Horse is slower than average: its median of 59 days is 2 days above the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Vale of White Horse approve?
94% of the clear-cut outcomes Vale of White Horse issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 1,130 granted against 77 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Vale of White Horse planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 59 days from application to decision (3 days beyond the eight week target), across 1,612 decisions with both dates published. 47% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 76% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 134 days. 94% 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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<p>Data: <a href="https://planindex.co.uk/planning-decision-times/vale-of-white-horse">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>