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PlanningLens Press·Thurrock·July 2026

Thurrock averages 8.0 weeks for planning permission, right on the statutory eight-week line

A ready-to-publish local data pack on planning decision times in Thurrock. Everything on this page is free to use with attribution to PlanningLens.

Figures from the 9 July 2026 data export·
8.0 wks
Average decision time, 2025
29th
fastest of 146 ranked
18%
took over 8 weeks
534
Decisions analysed

Ready-to-run copy

Three paragraphs written to be lifted as they stand: the local figures, the national context, and a quote. Copy them individually or take the whole story from the button above.

Local figures
Householder planning applications in Thurrock took an average of 8.0 weeks to decide in 2025, according to analysis of council planning records by the planning data firm PlanningLens. That is right on the statutory eight-week line. It ranks 29th fastest of the 146 British councils with enough decisions to rank. Of the 534 decisions analysed, 18% took longer than eight weeks. The picture is improving: in 2020 the average was 9.4 weeks.
National context
Across England, the average planning application takes 10.7 weeks from validation to decision, according to PlanningLens analysis of 2,094,240 decided applications across 209 English councils, and 90% of councils (189 of 209) take longer than the statutory eight weeks on average. Official figures look healthier because an application still counts as decided on time if the council persuades the applicant to sign an extension of time agreement first. The full analysis, with league tables for every council and project type, is free at planninglens.co.uk/how-long-does-planning-permission-take.html.
Quote
“Most of Britain runs past the statutory eight weeks, so a council holding the line at 8.0 weeks deserves to be noticed. The figures are not ours: they come from Thurrock’s own planning portal, application by application. We have simply added them up,” said Mark Broome, founder of PlanningLens.
May be used as supplied.

Decision times by project type

Application typeAverageOver 8 weeksDecisions
Two-storey extensions9.5 wks
28%
58
Single-storey extensions8.3 wks
19%
227
Loft conversions8.1 wks
19%
157
Rear extensions6.3 wks
9%
92

Householder application types with at least 50 decided applications in 2025. Averages are validation date to decision date.

Notes for editors

How these figures are produced

PlanningLens measures validation date to decision date, per application, from each council’s own planning portal. Named local figures cover householder applications (extensions, lofts and similar) decided in 2025; councils are ranked only where at least 50 such decisions were available. National context figures cover all application types. Full method: planninglens.co.uk/how-long-does-planning-permission-take.html#method.

Using this pack

Everything on this page is free to publish with attribution to PlanningLens and a link to the full analysis. Text and data are licensed CC BY 4.0. The quote from Mark Broome may be used as supplied.

Links

Contact

Interviews, custom data cuts or checks: hello@planninglens.co.uk. Figures from the 9 July 2026 data export; the live analysis regenerates with every data update.