Decision times · East of England
How long planning decisions take in Welwyn Hatfield
58 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Welwyn Hatfield took 58 days from submission to decision — 2 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 836 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 Welwyn Hatfield compares
Year to December 2026
Welwyn Hatfield 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 77 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.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 389 47%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 292 35%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 155 19%
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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Prior approval 21 decided 43 days
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Trees 201 decided 47 days
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Conditions 96 decided 55 days
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Lawful development 55 decided 58 days
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Householder 198 decided 59 days
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Advertising 18 decided 63 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 12 decided 64 days
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Amendments 10 decided 75 days
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Full applications 79 decided 102 days
What Welwyn Hatfield decides
Year to December 2026
Welwyn Hatfield issued 836 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 90% were approvals: 708 granted against 75 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 Welwyn Hatfield?
The median planning application decided by Welwyn Hatfield in the year to December 2026 took 58 days from submission to decision, 2 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 836 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Welwyn Hatfield meet the eight week target?
47% of the 836 decisions Welwyn Hatfield made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 81% 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 Welwyn Hatfield faster or slower than average?
Welwyn Hatfield is slower than average: its median of 58 days is 1 day above the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Welwyn Hatfield approve?
90% of the clear-cut outcomes Welwyn Hatfield issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 708 granted against 75 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Welwyn Hatfield planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 58 days from application to decision (2 days beyond the eight week target), across 836 decisions with both dates published. 47% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 81% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 126 days. 90% 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/welwyn-hatfield">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>