Decision times · East of England
How long planning decisions take in Welwyn Hatfield
57 days. Ranked 182 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Welwyn Hatfield took 57 days from submission to decision — 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 668 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Welwyn Hatfield compares
Year to September 2026
Welwyn Hatfield takes longer than the country as a whole: 1 day above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 48%.
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, 129 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 319 48%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 227 34%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 122 18%
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 | 57 | 182 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 58 | 218 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 57 | 189 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 57 | 154 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 57 | 155 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 57 | 159 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 57 days, Welwyn Hatfield has moved up 7 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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Prior approval 15 decided 43 days
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Trees 154 decided 45 days
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Conditions 77 decided 55 days
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Advertising 15 decided 57 days
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Lawful development 43 decided 58 days
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Householder 169 decided 59 days
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Full applications 61 decided 106 days
What Welwyn Hatfield decides
Year to September 2026
Welwyn Hatfield issued 668 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 91% were approvals: 558 granted against 57 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 September 2026 took 57 days from submission to decision, 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 668 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 182 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Welwyn Hatfield meet the eight week target?
48% of the 668 decisions Welwyn Hatfield made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 82% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 129 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 57 days is 1 day above the national median of 56 days.
Is Welwyn Hatfield getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 57 days, Welwyn Hatfield has moved up 7 places in the table. Its median has not changed.
What proportion of applications does Welwyn Hatfield approve?
91% of the clear-cut outcomes Welwyn Hatfield issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 558 granted against 57 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 September 2026: median 57 days from application to decision (1 day beyond the eight week target), across 668 decisions with both dates published. 48% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 82% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 129 days. Ranked 182 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 91% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.