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Decision times · London

How long planning decisions take in Westminster

66 days. Ranked 262 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Westminster took 66 days from submission to decision — 10 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 3,167 decisions where the council published both dates.

66 days
Median decision 10 days beyond the eight week target
262 of 343
UK rank down 256 places in a year
41%
Within eight weeks 64% within thirteen
167 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Westminster compares

Year to September 2026

Westminster takes longer than the country as a whole: 10 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 41%.

The average here is 85 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 167 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 1,311 41%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 702 22%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 1,154 36%

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.

Westminster: 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 66 262 of 343
June 2026 57 193 of 328
March 2026 51 73 of 243
December 2025 44 48 of 236
September 2025 25 6 of 324
December 2024 34 3 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 25 days, Westminster has moved down 256 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 51 decided 29 days
  2. Trees 321 decided 38 days
  3. Conditions 205 decided 43 days
  4. Advertising 335 decided 52 days
  5. Amendments 112 decided 57 days
  6. Lawful development 55 decided 78 days
  7. Full applications 1,400 decided 85 days
  8. Heritage and listed buildings 636 decided 87 days

How these types compare nationally

What Westminster decides

Year to September 2026

Westminster issued 3,170 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 89% were approvals: 2,627 granted against 314 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 Westminster?

The median planning application decided by Westminster in the year to September 2026 took 66 days from submission to decision, 10 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 3,167 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 262 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Westminster meet the eight week target?

41% of the 3,167 decisions Westminster made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 64% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 167 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Westminster faster or slower than average?

Westminster is slower than average: its median of 66 days is 10 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is Westminster getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 25 days, Westminster has moved down 256 places in the table. Its median has risen by 41 days.

What proportion of applications does Westminster approve?

89% of the clear-cut outcomes Westminster issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 2,627 granted against 314 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Westminster planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 66 days from application to decision (10 days beyond the eight week target), across 3,167 decisions with both dates published. 41% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 64% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 167 days. Ranked 262 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 89% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.