Decision times · West Midlands
How long planning decisions take in Worcester
54 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Worcester took 54 days from submission to decision — 2 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 217 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.
How Worcester compares
Year to December 2026
Worcester decides faster than the country as a whole: 3 days below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 67%.
The average here is 64 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 120 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 146 67%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 40 18%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 31 14%
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.
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Trees 48 decided 42 days
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Conditions 23 decided 51 days
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Lawful development 17 decided 53 days
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Householder 42 decided 54 days
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Advertising 14 decided 55 days
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Full applications 42 decided 78 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 16 decided 85 days
What Worcester decides
Year to December 2026
Worcester issued 217 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 87% were approvals: 176 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 Worcester?
The median planning application decided by Worcester in the year to December 2026 took 54 days from submission to decision, 2 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 217 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Worcester meet the eight week target?
67% of the 217 decisions Worcester 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 120 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Worcester faster or slower than average?
Worcester is faster than average: its median of 54 days is 3 days below the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Worcester approve?
87% of the clear-cut outcomes Worcester issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 176 granted against 26 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Worcester planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 54 days from application to decision (2 days inside the eight week target), across 217 decisions with both dates published. 67% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 86% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 120 days. 87% 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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