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Decision times · London

How long planning decisions take in Wandsworth

58 days.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Wandsworth took 58 days from submission to decision — 2 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 2,866 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.

58 days
Median decision 2 days beyond the eight week target
47%
Within eight weeks 80% within thirteen
127 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Wandsworth compares

Year to December 2026

Wandsworth takes longer than the country as a whole: 1 day 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, 127 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 1,359 47%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 926 32%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 581 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.

  1. Telecoms 14 decided 28 days
  2. Prior approval 57 decided 38 days
  3. Amendments 129 decided 56 days
  4. Lawful development 228 decided 57 days
  5. Trees 330 decided 57 days
  6. Advertising 82 decided 59 days
  7. Householder 585 decided 68 days
  8. Full applications 767 decided 74 days
  9. Heritage and listed buildings 33 decided 78 days
  10. Conditions 26 decided 101 days
  11. Other 16 decided 120 days

How these types compare nationally

What Wandsworth decides

Year to December 2026

Wandsworth issued 2,866 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 88% were approvals: 2,156 granted against 282 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 Wandsworth?

The median planning application decided by Wandsworth in the year to December 2026 took 58 days from submission to decision, 2 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 2,866 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.

Does Wandsworth meet the eight week target?

47% of the 2,866 decisions Wandsworth 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 127 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Wandsworth faster or slower than average?

Wandsworth is slower than average: its median of 58 days is 1 day above the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does Wandsworth approve?

88% of the clear-cut outcomes Wandsworth issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 2,156 granted against 282 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Wandsworth planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 58 days from application to decision (2 days beyond the eight week target), across 2,866 decisions with both dates published. 47% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 80% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 127 days. 88% 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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