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Decision times · West Midlands

How long planning decisions take in Wolverhampton

42 days.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Wolverhampton took 42 days from submission to decision — 14 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 456 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.

42 days
Median decision 14 days inside the eight week target
71%
Within eight weeks 86% within thirteen
112 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Wolverhampton compares

Year to December 2026

Wolverhampton decides faster than the country as a whole: 15 days below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 71%.

The average here is 62 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 112 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 322 71%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 71 16%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 63 14%

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.

Wolverhampton: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
June 2026 49 6 of 39
March 2026 53 9 of 38
December 2024 47 4 of 57

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. Lawful development 36 decided 20 days
  2. Trees 73 decided 27 days
  3. Prior approval 36 decided 30 days
  4. Heritage and listed buildings 10 decided 42 days
  5. Advertising 23 decided 49 days
  6. Full applications 239 decided 53 days

How these types compare nationally

What Wolverhampton decides

Year to December 2026

Wolverhampton issued 456 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 90% were approvals: 384 granted against 44 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 Wolverhampton?

The median planning application decided by Wolverhampton in the year to December 2026 took 42 days from submission to decision, 14 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 456 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.

Does Wolverhampton meet the eight week target?

71% of the 456 decisions Wolverhampton made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 86% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 112 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Wolverhampton faster or slower than average?

Wolverhampton is faster than average: its median of 42 days is 15 days below the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does Wolverhampton approve?

90% of the clear-cut outcomes Wolverhampton issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 384 granted against 44 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Wolverhampton planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 42 days from application to decision (14 days inside the eight week target), across 456 decisions with both dates published. 71% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 86% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 112 days. 90% 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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