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Decision times · South West

How long planning decisions take in Wiltshire

53 days.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Wiltshire took 53 days from submission to decision — 3 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 4,945 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.

53 days
Median decision 3 days inside the eight week target
62%
Within eight weeks 81% within thirteen
134 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Wiltshire compares

Year to December 2026

Wiltshire decides faster than the country as a whole: 4 days below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 62%.

The average here is 73 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 134 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 3,059 62%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 955 19%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 931 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.

  1. Prior approval 226 decided 30 days
  2. Trees 1,297 decided 39 days
  3. Lawful development 183 decided 52 days
  4. Conditions 467 decided 55 days
  5. Advertising 57 decided 56 days
  6. Householder 1,201 decided 56 days
  7. Other 18 decided 56 days
  8. Amendments 177 decided 58 days
  9. Heritage and listed buildings 487 decided 63 days
  10. Outline 72 decided 64 days
  11. Full applications 698 decided 91 days
  12. Reserved matters 17 decided 215 days

How these types compare nationally

What Wiltshire decides

Year to December 2026

Wiltshire issued 4,945 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 95% were approvals: 4,373 granted against 254 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 Wiltshire?

The median planning application decided by Wiltshire in the year to December 2026 took 53 days from submission to decision, 3 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 4,945 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.

Does Wiltshire meet the eight week target?

62% of the 4,945 decisions Wiltshire 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 134 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Wiltshire faster or slower than average?

Wiltshire is faster than average: its median of 53 days is 4 days below the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does Wiltshire approve?

95% of the clear-cut outcomes Wiltshire issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 4,373 granted against 254 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Wiltshire planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 53 days from application to decision (3 days inside the eight week target), across 4,945 decisions with both dates published. 62% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 81% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 134 days. 95% 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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