🗓 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.
📊 Sutton
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 64 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 | 88.6% |
| Feb | Submit by end of Dec | 88.1% |
| Mar | Submit by end of Jan | 89.4% |
| Apr | Submit by end of Feb | 75.6% |
| May | Submit by end of Mar | 100% |
| Jun | Submit by end of Apr | 100% |
| Jul | Submit by end of May | 100% |
| Aug | Submit by end of Jun | — |
| Sep | Submit by end of Jul | — |
| Oct | Submit by end of Aug | 100% |
| Nov | Submit by end of Sep | 75% |
| 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 Sutton. 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: Conservation Area (44 days). Slowest: Full / Major (73 days).
| Application type | Decisions | Approval rate | Avg days | Range | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Householder | 146 | 93.2% | 56 d (8 wk) | 42–126 d | Filter ▸ |
| Lawful Development | 51 | 96.1% | 51 d (7 wk) | 17–67 d | Filter ▸ |
| Full / Major | 50 | 82% | 73 d (10 wk) | 43–330 d | Filter ▸ |
| Conservation Area | 19 | 100% | 44 d (6 wk) | 13–55 d | Filter ▸ |
| Prior Approval | 12 | 16.7% | 50 d (7 wk) | 33–125 d | Filter ▸ |
| Advertisement | 8 | 100% | 54 d (8 wk) | 49–59 d | Filter ▸ |
| Listed Building (low sample) | 2 | 100% | 54 d (8 wk) | 51–56 d | Filter ▸ |
| Change of Use (low sample) | 2 | 50% | 91 d (13 wk) | 56–125 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 | 94 |
89.4%
|
51d (~7wk) | → March | 13–80d |
| February | 41 |
75.6%
|
51d (~7wk) | → April | 14–330d |
| September | 4 |
75%
|
143d (~20wk) | → February | 125–159d |
| October | 5 |
80%
|
104d (~15wk) | → January | 79–130d |
| November | 79 |
88.6%
|
56d (~8wk) | → January | 39–113d |
| December | 101 |
88.1%
|
53d (~8wk) | → February | 19–114d |
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 | 86 | 84.9% | 57 |
| Tuesday | 54 | 94.4% | 63 |
| Wednesday | 60 | 90% | 62 |
| Thursday | 65 | 81.5% | 57 |
| Friday | 65 | 86.2% | 55 |
📊 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.