Is there a time limit for a council to pass or refuse planning?

[Whitegrenache]

Hi our local council has taken weeks to get back to us regarding an extension on our home. Well over 3 months. Does anyone know the legality over time frames they have to adhere to?
Thanks

If you have made a planning application for a home extension, then the council should respond within 8 weeks I believe. However I believe they are usually late in giving a yes/no on applications, so what they tend to do is notify you that they need an extension (typically the day your decision is due). If they do not respond to you at all within 8 weeks, then I believe you can automatically apply for an appeal which will count against the council (I think they are fined?) as they didn't respond in time. If they do contact you on the day to say they need an extension, you can either agree to give it to them or not, but if you do not agree to give it to them (or if you do not respond at all) then they will most likely decline your application because otherwise they will be penalised for not giving you a decision on time. From my understanding applications have more of a chance of getting approved through an appeal anyways, so that might be your best option? I guess it depends on what you're application is for. We are still waiting to hear back from our planning application that we filed back in July. They took over a week to 'accept' our application so that held things up a bit and then our po went on holiday for 3 weeks. You should have received a letter from the council soon after you applied to say they had accepted your application and they will get back to you by X day.
Good luck!

Is it not showing online? I think there is a timeframe of about 15 weeks to process, consult and make a decision.

For a house extension the time limit is 8 weeks from validation. The validation point is key because if you submitted but there were plans missing etc. the clock doesn't start.

As pp has said, it should be online and will say the date it was validated.

If you've submitted via an architect check with them as planning departments are so busy they will often request an extension of time, your architect might not have passed this information on.

If you submitted yourself then check on the planning portal in case you have any messages there.

3 months? Pah! I'll see that and raise you 9 months! Just been ranting at them today actually and about to make a formal complaint. They did ask for 2 extensions of time limit actually but they only went up to the end of May. I rang to harass them today as I'd had no reply to my emails for 2 weeks only to be told that the planning officer had left! Left!!!!!! Nobody felt the need to tell us obviously. I'd quite like to sue them or something but no doubt they would squirm their way out of it...

Planning departments, along with all local authority services, have been cut and cut. I'm waiting too but so are suicidal teens, children needing speech therapy and families living in squalor.
There's probably one planning officer doing 3 people's jobs, with a broken printer and no envelopes.
Thanks yet again to the Tory government.

shoveller I work in children's services so sympathise with services having budgets cut. I don't think the planning department is exactly comparable though as its users pay a fee and have a right to expect a certain level of service for that fee.

You could appeal for non-determination as a PP has said, however the Planning Inspectorate (the national body who determine appeals) are struggling at the moment, I recently had an appeal submitted that took over a month to even have an Inspector assigned. Realistically, you will wait far longer if you appeal than if you would if you leave it to be determined by the Local Authority.

That being said, it's not great if it's been in this long and there's been no contact. Have you tried actually phoning to ask what's going on?