🗓 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.

📅 Monthly breakdown per LPA 🏆 Best / worst windows ⚡ Decision-speed by month 🌍 National baseline for context

🏛️ By LPA 🗓 Best LPAs by Month

Pick a council

Narrow by type All types Householder Full / Major Outline Reserved Matters Listed Building Conservation Area Prior Approval Lawful Development Change of Use

📊 National (all LPAs)

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.

Best month to submit: March — apps submitted then end up with 87.5% approval (sample: 8 decisions). Avoid submitting in December (51.5% approval).

🏆 Best SUBMIT Month

March

Apps submitted then → 87.5% approval (8 decisions)

⚠️ Avoid SUBMITTING In

December

Apps submitted then → 51.5% approval (33 decisions)

⚡ Submit For Fastest Decision

November

Apps submitted then → avg 52 days to decision

🎯 Inverse view — "I want a decision in [month], when do I submit?"

Based on this LPA's typical decision-lag of 75 days (~3 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 Oct	100%
Feb	Submit by end of Nov	61.5%
Mar	Submit by end of Dec	51.5%
Apr	Submit by end of Jan	52%
May	Submit by end of Feb	71.4%
Jun	Submit by end of Mar	87.5%
Jul	Submit by end of Apr	—
Aug	Submit by end of May	—
Sep	Submit by end of Jun	100%
Oct	Submit by end of Jul	—
Nov	Submit by end of Aug	100%
Dec	Submit by end of Sep	85.7%

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 National (all LPAs). 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: Discharge Conditions (43 days). Slowest: Outline (110 days).

Application type	Decisions	Approval rate	Avg days	Range
Householder	5,243	86.8%	67 d (10 wk)	2–365 d	Filter ▸
Full / Major	4,585	72.6%	87 d (12 wk)	1–365 d	Filter ▸
Lawful Development	2,815	84%	47 d (7 wk)	0–337 d	Filter ▸
Conservation Area	1,482	86.8%	50 d (7 wk)	0–365 d	Filter ▸
Advertisement	1,181	65.5%	83 d (12 wk)	5–349 d	Filter ▸
Listed Building	1,111	90.6%	100 d (14 wk)	7–356 d	Filter ▸
Prior Approval	884	66.2%	46 d (7 wk)	2–345 d	Filter ▸
Change of Use	107	65.4%	93 d (13 wk)	23–319 d	✕ clear
Discharge Conditions	35	88.6%	43 d (6 wk)	3–194 d	Filter ▸
Outline	13	23.1%	110 d (16 wk)	37–361 d	Filter ▸
Reserved Matters (low sample)	6	83.3%	151 d (22 wk)	15–361 d	Filter ▸

ⓘ Month-by-month stats above are filtered to Change of Use only. The table above always shows all types so you can compare.

🚀

Submit-now-or-wait recommendation

SUBMIT NOW

Current approval rate is 100% — only -12.5pp below the best month. Not worth waiting.

Current month's decision speed: ~237 days avg.

📅 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	25	52%	54d (~8wk)	→ March	40–69d
February	7	71.4%	52d (~7wk)	→ April	48–56d
March	8	87.5%	206d (~29wk) (outlier)	→ October	23–319d
June	6	100%	237d (~34wk) (outlier)	→ February	216–282d
September	7	85.7%	156d (~22wk)	→ February	107–196d
October	6	100%	144d (~21wk)	→ March	91–160d
November	13	61.5%	52d (~7wk)	→ January	42–61d
December	33	51.5%	63d (~9wk)	→ February	46–110d

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	24	70.8%	129
Tuesday	30	56.7%	82
Wednesday	17	52.9%	99
Thursday	18	83.3%	73
Friday	22	72.7%	132

🌍 National picture — all 25,848 dated decisions

The broader pattern: March has the highest approval rate in our corpus; July the lowest. Pick an LPA above to see council-specific timing.

Received in	Decisions	Approval rate	Avg days
January	5,547	83%	46
February	2,908	86.3%	39
March	652	91.9%	51
April	141	89.4%	213
May	185	86.5%	227
June	275	79.3%	241
July	317	72.9%	212
August	386	86.5%	181
September	667	90%	145
October	1,523	86.6%	111
November	4,024	84.7%	71
December	5,661	81.7%	57

⚖️ Why timing matters less than they pretend: A planning decision should be made on its substantive merits, not the season. But officers have queues, committees have schedules, and consultees go on holiday. The data is a guide to operational friction, not policy friction. If your scheme is sound, time it to land in their best window. If it's borderline, give yourself every advantage.

📊 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.