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Decision times · South East

How long planning decisions take in West Oxfordshire

50 days. Ranked 36 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by West Oxfordshire took 50 days from submission to decision — 6 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,568 decisions where the council published both dates.

50 days
Median decision 6 days inside the eight week target
36 of 343
UK rank up 200 places in a year
73%
Within eight weeks 89% within thirteen
98 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How West Oxfordshire compares

Year to September 2026

West Oxfordshire decides faster than the country as a whole: 6 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 73%.

The average here is 57 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 98 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 1,142 73%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 248 16%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 178 11%

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.

West Oxfordshire: 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 50 36 of 343
June 2026 47 29 of 328
March 2026 47 37 of 243
December 2025 45 57 of 236
September 2025 62 236 of 324
June 2025 67 242 of 313
March 2025 58 171 of 315
December 2024 56 115 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 62 days, West Oxfordshire has moved up 200 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. Trees 335 decided 25 days
  2. Prior approval 10 decided 46 days
  3. Conditions 189 decided 50 days
  4. Lawful development 74 decided 50 days
  5. Householder 424 decided 51 days
  6. Advertising 17 decided 53 days
  7. Amendments 107 decided 53 days
  8. Heritage and listed buildings 153 decided 55 days
  9. Other 12 decided 56 days
  10. Full applications 211 decided 69 days
  11. Outline 17 decided 88 days

How these types compare nationally

What West Oxfordshire decides

Year to September 2026

West Oxfordshire issued 1,568 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 96% were approvals: 1,439 granted against 58 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 West Oxfordshire?

The median planning application decided by West Oxfordshire in the year to September 2026 took 50 days from submission to decision, 6 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,568 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 36 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does West Oxfordshire meet the eight week target?

73% of the 1,568 decisions West Oxfordshire made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 89% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 98 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is West Oxfordshire faster or slower than average?

West Oxfordshire is faster than average: its median of 50 days is 6 days below the national median of 56 days.

Is West Oxfordshire getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 62 days, West Oxfordshire has moved up 200 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 12 days.

What proportion of applications does West Oxfordshire approve?

96% of the clear-cut outcomes West Oxfordshire issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 1,439 granted against 58 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

West Oxfordshire planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 50 days from application to decision (6 days inside the eight week target), across 1,568 decisions with both dates published. 73% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 89% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 98 days. Ranked 36 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 96% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.