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Decision times · London

How long planning decisions take in Wandsworth

61 days. Ranked 223 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Wandsworth took 61 days from submission to decision — 5 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 2,740 decisions where the council published both dates.

61 days
Median decision 5 days beyond the eight week target
223 of 343
UK rank down 16 places in a year
43%
Within eight weeks 80% within thirteen
126 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Wandsworth compares

Year to September 2026

Wandsworth takes longer than the country as a whole: 5 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 88 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 126 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 1,185 43%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 1,007 37%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 548 20%

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.

Wandsworth: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
September 2026 61 223 of 343
June 2026 58 213 of 328
March 2026 56 151 of 243
December 2025 56 169 of 236
September 2025 58 207 of 324
June 2025 58 170 of 313
March 2025 58 175 of 315
December 2024 58 179 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 58 days, Wandsworth has moved down 16 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.

  1. Telecoms 27 decided 28 days
  2. Prior approval 76 decided 39 days
  3. Trees 547 decided 50 days
  4. Amendments 163 decided 56 days
  5. Advertising 91 decided 57 days
  6. Lawful development 262 decided 57 days
  7. Householder 660 decided 64 days
  8. Full applications 820 decided 70 days
  9. Heritage and listed buildings 39 decided 70 days
  10. Conditions 29 decided 72 days
  11. Other 20 decided 81 days

How these types compare nationally

What Wandsworth decides

Year to September 2026

Wandsworth issued 2,740 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 88% were approvals: 2,002 granted against 264 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 September 2026 took 61 days from submission to decision, 5 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 2,740 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 223 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Wandsworth meet the eight week target?

43% of the 2,740 decisions Wandsworth made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 80% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 126 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 61 days is 5 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is Wandsworth getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 58 days, Wandsworth has moved down 16 places in the table. Its median has risen by 3 days.

What proportion of applications does Wandsworth approve?

88% of the clear-cut outcomes Wandsworth issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 2,002 granted against 264 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Wandsworth planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 61 days from application to decision (5 days beyond the eight week target), across 2,740 decisions with both dates published. 43% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 80% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 126 days. Ranked 223 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 88% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.