Decision times · North West
How long planning decisions take in Wigan
87 days. Ranked 315 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Wigan took 87 days from submission to decision — 31 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 289 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Wigan compares
Year to September 2026
Wigan takes longer than the country as a whole: 31 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 16%.
The average here is 130 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 247 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 46 16%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 110 38%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 133 46%
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 | 87 | 315 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 79 | 303 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 87 | 302 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 83 | 280 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 83 | 288 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 82 | 291 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 87 days, Wigan has moved down 13 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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Lawful development 16 decided 62 days
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Outline 11 decided 70 days
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Amendments 12 decided 75 days
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Trees 42 decided 78 days
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Householder 81 decided 84 days
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Conditions 57 decided 99 days
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Full applications 57 decided 173 days
What Wigan decides
Year to September 2026
Wigan issued 289 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 88% were approvals: 195 granted against 26 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 Wigan?
The median planning application decided by Wigan in the year to September 2026 took 87 days from submission to decision, 31 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 289 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 315 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Wigan meet the eight week target?
16% of the 289 decisions Wigan made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 54% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 247 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Wigan faster or slower than average?
Wigan is slower than average: its median of 87 days is 31 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Wigan getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 87 days, Wigan has moved down 13 places in the table. Its median has not changed.
What proportion of applications does Wigan approve?
88% of the clear-cut outcomes Wigan issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 195 granted against 26 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Wigan planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 87 days from application to decision (31 days beyond the eight week target), across 289 decisions with both dates published. 16% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 54% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 247 days. Ranked 315 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 88% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.