🗓 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 95.7% approval (sample: 23 decisions). Avoid submitting in August (78.1% approval).

🏆 Best SUBMIT Month

March

Apps submitted then → 95.7% approval (23 decisions)

⚠️ Avoid SUBMITTING In

August

Apps submitted then → 78.1% approval (32 decisions)

⚡ Submit For Fastest Decision

February

Apps submitted then → avg 48 days to decision

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

Based on this LPA's typical decision-lag of 76 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	90.2%
Feb	Submit by end of Nov	88.8%
Mar	Submit by end of Dec	87%
Apr	Submit by end of Jan	85%
May	Submit by end of Feb	83.5%
Jun	Submit by end of Mar	95.7%
Jul	Submit by end of Apr	90.9%
Aug	Submit by end of May	92%
Sep	Submit by end of Jun	82.1%
Oct	Submit by end of Jul	90%
Nov	Submit by end of Aug	78.1%
Dec	Submit by end of Sep	90.5%

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 (41 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	✕ clear
Full / Major	4,588	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	885	66.2%	46 d (7 wk)	2–345 d	Filter ▸
Change of Use	107	65.4%	93 d (13 wk)	23–319 d	Filter ▸
Discharge Conditions	38	89.5%	41 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 Householder only. The table above always shows all types so you can compare.

🤔

Submit-now-or-wait recommendation

BORDERLINE

Current month (June): 82.1% approval. Best (March): 95.7%. Best is too far away — submit now.

Current month's decision speed: ~229 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	1,376	85%	53d (~8wk)	→ March	2–156d
February	532	83.5%	48d (~7wk)	→ April	13–365d
March	23	95.7%	57d (~8wk)	→ May	3–331d
April	22	90.9%	223d (~32wk) (outlier)	→ November	41–340d
May	25	92%	276d (~39wk) (outlier)	→ February	233–296d
June	39	82.1%	229d (~33wk) (outlier)	→ February	201–267d
July	20	90%	197d (~28wk)	→ February	161–241d
August	32	78.1%	174d (~25wk)	→ February	131–209d
September	137	90.5%	142d (~20wk)	→ February	92–200d
October	347	90.2%	104d (~15wk)	→ January	65–171d
November	1,152	88.8%	67d (~10wk)	→ January	32–141d
December	1,538	87%	58d (~8wk)	→ February	24–130d

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
Sunday	21	100%	67
Monday	1,247	84.6%	68
Tuesday	1,156	85.6%	72
Wednesday	979	86.2%	67
Thursday	903	89.6%	69
Friday	917	89.3%	77
Saturday	50	82%	56

🌍 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	653	91.9%	51
April	144	89.6%	210
May	195	87.2%	217
June	278	79.5%	239
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.