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Decision times · Wales

How long planning decisions take in Wrexham

60 days. Ranked 219 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Wrexham took 60 days from submission to decision — 4 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 614 decisions where the council published both dates.

60 days
Median decision 4 days beyond the eight week target
219 of 343
UK rank up 69 places in a year
47%
Within eight weeks 73% within thirteen
163 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Wrexham compares

Year to September 2026

Wrexham takes longer than the country as a whole: 4 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 47%.

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, 163 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 291 47%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 157 26%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 166 27%

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.

Wrexham: 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 60 219 of 343
June 2026 56 176 of 328
March 2026 56 172 of 243
December 2025 51 117 of 236
September 2025 77 288 of 324
June 2025 92 294 of 313
March 2025 92 298 of 315
December 2024 91 300 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 77 days, Wrexham has moved up 69 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. Prior approval 24 decided 28 days
  2. Amendments 43 decided 35 days
  3. Conditions 89 decided 50 days
  4. Trees 74 decided 50 days
  5. Advertising 24 decided 53 days
  6. Householder 164 decided 63 days
  7. Heritage and listed buildings 27 decided 69 days
  8. Full applications 146 decided 91 days
  9. Lawful development 11 decided 102 days

How these types compare nationally

What Wrexham decides

Year to September 2026

Wrexham issued 614 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 94% were approvals: 560 granted against 33 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 Wrexham?

The median planning application decided by Wrexham in the year to September 2026 took 60 days from submission to decision, 4 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 614 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 219 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Wrexham meet the eight week target?

47% of the 614 decisions Wrexham made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 73% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 163 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Wrexham faster or slower than average?

Wrexham is slower than average: its median of 60 days is 4 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is Wrexham getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 77 days, Wrexham has moved up 69 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 17 days.

What proportion of applications does Wrexham approve?

94% of the clear-cut outcomes Wrexham issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 560 granted against 33 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Wrexham planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 60 days from application to decision (4 days beyond the eight week target), across 614 decisions with both dates published. 47% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 73% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 163 days. Ranked 219 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 94% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.