🗓 Submission Timing Intelligence
When is the best month — and weekday — to submit your planning application? Real approval-rate + decision-speed data from 25,848 dated decisions across UK LPAs.
📊 Hounslow
Months below refer to when you submit, not when the decision lands. Each application is bucketed by its received_date month — but the approval rate measures the final outcome, whenever it landed (60-90 days later typically). The lag is already baked into the signal: "submit in December = 100% approval" already accounts for the fact that those decisions arrive in Feb/March. The month-by-month table below shows the lag explicitly so you can see the full cycle.
🎯 Inverse view — "I want a decision in [month], when do I submit?"
Based on this LPA's typical decision-lag of 74 days (~2 months), the table below shows when to submit if you want your decision to land in a specific month.
| If you want a decision in... | Submit by (approx.) | That submit month's approval rate |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | Submit by end of Nov | 78.9% |
| Feb | Submit by end of Dec | 79.9% |
| Mar | Submit by end of Jan | 74.1% |
| Apr | Submit by end of Feb | 86.4% |
| May | Submit by end of Mar | 100% |
| Jun | Submit by end of Apr | 75% |
| Jul | Submit by end of May | 66.7% |
| Aug | Submit by end of Jun | 93.8% |
| Sep | Submit by end of Jul | 100% |
| Oct | Submit by end of Aug | 100% |
| Nov | Submit by end of Sep | 76.5% |
| Dec | Submit by end of Oct | 80% |
Inverse calculation is approximate — actual decision time varies (range typically ±30 days). Use the Decision Time Predictor for tighter forecasts.
⏱ Decision speed by application type
How long different application types actually take at Hounslow. Householder apps are statutorily 8 weeks; full/major are 13 weeks — but the real numbers usually drift. This is what the data says, not what the statute says.
→ Fastest: Prior Approval (41 days). Slowest: Full / Major (92 days).
| Application type | Decisions | Approval rate | Avg days | Range | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Householder | 179 | 73.7% | 69 d (10 wk) | 2–249 d | Filter ▸ |
| Lawful Development | 128 | 82.8% | 65 d (9 wk) | 6–249 d | Filter ▸ |
| Full / Major | 92 | 72.8% | 92 d (13 wk) | 14–313 d | Filter ▸ |
| Prior Approval | 66 | 81.8% | 41 d (6 wk) | 22–135 d | Filter ▸ |
| Advertisement | 20 | 85% | 72 d (10 wk) | 28–332 d | Filter ▸ |
| Listed Building | 16 | 93.8% | 90 d (13 wk) | 55–145 d | Filter ▸ |
| Conservation Area | 15 | 73.3% | 80 d (11 wk) | 49–288 d | Filter ▸ |
| Change of Use (low sample) | 5 | 60% | 72 d (10 wk) | 55–135 d | Filter ▸ |
📅 Month-by-month breakdown — full submit→decide cycle
Each row shows the complete journey for applications received in that month: how long they took, when the decision actually landed, and what % were approved. The approval rate already accounts for everything that happens between submission and decision — the lag is part of the signal.
| Submit month | Decisions | Approval rate | Median lag | Decision typically lands in | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 158 |
74.1%
|
48d (~7wk) | → March | 2–84d |
| February | 88 |
86.4%
|
43d (~6wk) | → March | 13–332d |
| March | 12 |
100%
|
72d (~10wk) | → May | 15–313d |
| April | 4 |
75%
|
307d (~44wk) (outlier) | → February | 280–329d |
| May | 6 |
66.7%
|
278d (~40wk) (outlier) | → February | 233–330d |
| June | 16 |
93.8%
|
248d (~35wk) (outlier) | → February | 224–279d |
| July | 5 |
100%
|
213d (~30wk) (outlier) | → February | 190–232d |
| August | 6 |
100%
|
159d (~23wk) | → January | 140–216d |
| September | 17 |
76.5%
|
140d (~20wk) | → February | 109–200d |
| October | 50 |
80%
|
109d (~16wk) | → February | 72–162d |
| November | 109 |
78.9%
|
69d (~10wk) | → January | 39–134d |
| December | 159 |
79.9%
|
57d (~8wk) | → February | 26–119d |
Read across each row: submit in [month] → wait [median lag] → decision lands in [target month] → outcome [approval rate]. The approval rate is the final outcome of the whole cycle, not a snapshot.
🗓 Day-of-week patterns
| Day received | Decisions | Approval rate | Avg days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 147 | 76.9% | 72 |
| Tuesday | 134 | 84.3% | 90 |
| Wednesday | 109 | 75.2% | 77 |
| Thursday | 118 | 78.8% | 88 |
| Friday | 134 | 85.8% | 81 |
📊 Data sources & freshness
Timing is a tactical edge, not strategic justification. Use alongside the constraint check + pattern fingerprint to make the case strong on substance, then time it to land well.
- planning_applications.received_date (updated Daily ingest)
25,848 dated decisions where both received_date and decision_type are known. Approval = approved/granted/permit. Sample size gating: months with fewer than 8 decisions excluded from best/worst recommendation. - Day-of-week patterns
Reflects when applicants choose to submit, which may correlate with applicant type (Monday = professional consultants; Friday = end-of-week DIY submissions). Causality is correlative not causal. - Decision-time outliers
Months showing 200+ day averages are flagged — they reflect older PINS-appeal-derived rows where determinations stretched over many months. Read the Jan/Feb/Nov/Dec numbers (largest samples) as the reliable benchmark.