Decision times · West Midlands
How long planning decisions take in Walsall
76 days. Ranked 291 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Walsall took 76 days from submission to decision — 20 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 307 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Walsall compares
Year to September 2026
Walsall takes longer than the country as a whole: 20 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 33%.
The average here is 115 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 197 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 102 33%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 86 28%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 119 39%
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 | 76 | 291 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 81 | 307 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 56 | 179 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 56 | 141 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 56 | 142 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 56 | 144 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 56 days, Walsall has moved down 112 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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Outline 43 decided 37 days
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Conditions 18 decided 43 days
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Lawful development 26 decided 67 days
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Householder 103 decided 77 days
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Amendments 25 decided 92 days
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Full applications 45 decided 152 days
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Trees 29 decided 161 days
What Walsall decides
Year to September 2026
Walsall issued 307 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 82% were approvals: 219 granted against 48 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 Walsall?
The median planning application decided by Walsall in the year to September 2026 took 76 days from submission to decision, 20 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 307 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 291 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Walsall meet the eight week target?
33% of the 307 decisions Walsall made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 61% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 197 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Walsall faster or slower than average?
Walsall is slower than average: its median of 76 days is 20 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Walsall getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 56 days, Walsall has moved down 112 places in the table. Its median has risen by 20 days.
What proportion of applications does Walsall approve?
82% of the clear-cut outcomes Walsall issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 219 granted against 48 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
Click the text to select the whole citation.
Walsall planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 76 days from application to decision (20 days beyond the eight week target), across 307 decisions with both dates published. 33% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 61% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 197 days. Ranked 291 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 82% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.