How Long Does Planning Take? Realistic Timescales for Landowners

Most landowners are surprised by how long planning takes. The decision itself is only one stage. Before it come surveys, design and pre-application talks. After it come legal agreements, a challenge period and the sale. The route your land takes matters more than anything else.

Once a valid application is submitted, the law sets a period for the council to make a decision. At the time of writing (September 2026) these are:

In practice, many major applications take longer. The council and the applicant can agree in writing to extend the period, known as an extension of time, and this is very common while issues are worked through or a Section 106 agreement is drafted. For larger schemes, a planning performance agreement sets out an agreed timetable, and government guidance encourages one to be agreed before submission.

There is also a backstop, called the planning guarantee. Major applications should be decided within 26 weeks and others within 16 weeks. If they are not, and no longer period has been agreed, the application fee is refunded.

If the council has not decided within the statutory period, or an agreed extension, the applicant can appeal for non-determination. That means the Planning Inspectorate takes over the decision. Once that appeal is lodged the council can no longer decide the application itself, so it is used carefully.

Where the council is short of homes, or the land falls within a national policy that supports development, an application can be made without waiting for a local plan. A typical sequence:

1. Surveys and technical work, 6 to 12 months. Ecology, access, drainage, landscape, heritage, trees, ground conditions and a Biodiversity Net Gain assessment. Some ecology surveys can only be done at certain times of year, which often decides the timetable.
2. Pre-application advice, 2 to 4 months. Talking to the council, highway authority and others before submission saves time later.
3. Validation, a few days to a few weeks. The council checks the application is complete. Since August 2026, Annex C of the NPPF sets a national list of information, which limits what councils can demand.
4. Consultation and assessment. Neighbours and consultees such as the highway authority and the lead local flood authority comment. The public consultation period is normally 21 days, but consultee responses and amended plans often take much longer.
5. Committee. Larger or contested schemes go to the planning committee, which usually meets monthly. A resolution to grant is not yet a permission.
6. Section 106 agreement. The permission is issued once the legal agreement is signed.

From instruction to issued permission, 18 months to three years is realistic for a well-prepared site. Land that is less straightforward, or in a district with long consultee delays, can take longer. Our guide to the August 2026 NPPF explains when this route is open.

Under the new plan-making system that began on 25 March 2026, councils are expected to prepare plans within 30 months. That is faster than many plans managed under the old system, but for a landowner it is only part of the story.

If your land is submitted early in the process, the plan might be adopted two and a half years later if the timetable holds. Timetables often slip. After adoption, an application still has to be prepared and decided, which typically adds another 18 months to two years. Five to eight years from first submission to permission is common, and land that just misses one plan may have to wait for the next.

The advantage is certainty of principle. An allocated site that follows the plan's policy has a very good chance of approval. Our guide to call for sites and local plans explains each stage.

Most land is sold with outline planning permission. Outline permission establishes the principle and usually the access and the maximum number of homes. The detail, such as layout, appearance, scale and landscaping, is left as "reserved matters" for the housebuilder to apply for later.

Under the standard time limits, an application for approval of reserved matters must be made within three years of the outline permission, and development must begin within two years of the final approval of reserved matters. A full permission must usually be started within three years. Councils can set different periods.

This matters to you because most land sales complete on the strength of outline permission. The housebuilder then takes on the reserved matters, and you are paid before they are decided. Where the price depends on the number of homes, the option or promotion agreement should say whether it is fixed at outline stage or adjusted later.

If the council refuses permission, the applicant can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. Most planning appeals must be made within six months of the decision notice. Householder and minor commercial appeals have only 12 weeks.

Appeals are decided by written representations, a hearing or a public inquiry. Official statistics for April 2025 to March 2026 give these median times to decide:

The mean is well above the median, which tells you some appeals take much longer. Preparing an appeal also takes time before it is lodged. Allowing six to twelve months for an appeal, from refusal to decision, is prudent.

After a decision, whether by the council or an inspector, there is a six-week window in which a third party can bring a legal challenge in the High Court. Buyers normally wait for that period to pass before completing.

A Section 106 agreement is a legal agreement that secures affordable housing, contributions to schools and roads, open space and other obligations. There is no statutory deadline for agreeing one. It can take anything from a few weeks to many months, depending on the number of parties, the council's legal team, and whether the county council is involved. Some councils set a deadline in the committee resolution, after which the application can be refused if the agreement has not been signed, so it pays to have title documents and plans ready early.

As the landowner, you will usually need to sign it, because the obligations bind the land. Your solicitor should check it, and your agreement with the promoter should say who pays for that. Our guide to Section 106 and CIL explains what these agreements contain.

Planning permissions come with conditions, and many must be dealt with before work starts, for example approving a construction management plan or drainage details. The council has 8 weeks to decide an application to discharge conditions, or longer if agreed in writing. If no decision is made within 12 weeks, the fee must be refunded, and for many conditions there is a deemed discharge procedure the applicant can use.

Conditions are usually the buyer's concern after completion, not yours. They matter to you only where the sale is conditional on them, which is uncommon for outline land deals.

• Survey seasons. Missing the window for a protected species survey can add most of a year.
• Highway and drainage objections. Access and surface water are the most common technical reasons for delay.
• Consultee backlogs. Some bodies take weeks or months to respond, and amended plans restart parts of the process.
• Environmental issues specific to the area. Nutrient neutrality, water supply or protected habitats can hold up whole districts.
• Committee cycles. Missing one monthly committee usually means waiting for the next.
• Section 106 negotiations. Especially where several councils or landowners must sign.
• Changes in policy or housing numbers. A council's supply position can change during an application.
• Title problems. Unregistered land, missing access rights or disputes between co-owners. See our guide to access and ransom strips.

In this example you would be paid about two and a half years after the first phone call. Some sites are quicker. Many are slower. Anyone who promises a firm date for planning permission is guessing. What you can ask for is a written timetable for the first year, so you can see whether the surveys and pre-application work are happening when they should.

The timescales above explain several terms you will see in an option or promotion agreement.

• The option period. It needs to be long enough for the route your land requires. A few years may be enough for a straight application. A local plan route may need ten years or more.
• Extensions for appeals and challenges. If an application, appeal or legal challenge is running when the period ends, the option usually extends until it is decided. Otherwise years of work could be lost a week before a decision.
• A long-stop date. A final date after which the option ends, whatever is happening. Always ask for one.
• The definition of satisfactory permission. It usually requires the challenge period to have passed without a challenge, which is why completion follows some weeks after the decision.
• Obligations to progress. Deadlines for submitting applications or representations, so your land is not tied up while nothing happens.

Our guide to option agreements explains these terms in more detail.

Before we agree terms, our planners look at which route suits your land and give you an honest view of the likely timescale. We set the option period and extensions to match that route, and we report progress to you in writing at each stage.

If the only realistic route is a long one through the local plan, we will say so at the start, so you can decide whether a long option suits your plans. For some owners, particularly those planning a succession or dealing with an estate, a shorter route or a different approach may be better. See our page on inherited land.

If you would like an honest view of how long your land might take, ask for a free review.