Decision times · West Midlands
How long planning decisions take in Walsall
77 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Walsall took 77 days from submission to decision — 21 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 438 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 Walsall compares
Year to December 2026
Walsall takes longer than the country as a whole: 20 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 34%.
The average here is 118 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 225 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 149 34%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 114 26%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 175 40%
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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Outline 58 decided 37 days
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Conditions 25 decided 49 days
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Lawful development 36 decided 67 days
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Amendments 37 decided 72 days
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Householder 146 decided 80 days
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Advertising 11 decided 83 days
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Trees 36 decided 158 days
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Full applications 75 decided 167 days
What Walsall decides
Year to December 2026
Walsall issued 438 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 82% were approvals: 318 granted against 68 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 December 2026 took 77 days from submission to decision, 21 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 438 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Walsall meet the eight week target?
34% of the 438 decisions Walsall made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 60% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 225 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 77 days is 20 days above the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Walsall approve?
82% of the clear-cut outcomes Walsall issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 318 granted against 68 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Walsall planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 77 days from application to decision (21 days beyond the eight week target), across 438 decisions with both dates published. 34% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 60% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 225 days. 82% 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/walsall">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>