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Decision times · Scotland

How long planning decisions take in Aberdeenshire

65 days. Ranked 255 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Aberdeenshire took 65 days from submission to decision — 9 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,403 decisions where the council published both dates.

65 days
Median decision 9 days beyond the eight week target
255 of 343
UK rank down 14 places in a year
34%
Within eight weeks 68% within thirteen
208 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Aberdeenshire compares

Year to September 2026

Aberdeenshire takes longer than the country as a whole: 9 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 34%.

The average here is 103 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 208 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 476 34%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 479 34%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 448 32%

The last few years

Each row is a full twelve months of decisions, ending in the quarter shown

Rolling twelve month windows overlap by nine months, so this reads as a trend rather than as four separate quarters. Only windows our records reach far enough back to measure in full are listed.

Aberdeenshire: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
September 2026 65 255 of 343
June 2026 63 250 of 328
March 2026 63 198 of 243
December 2025 59 187 of 236
September 2025 63 241 of 324
June 2025 63 217 of 313
March 2025 63 220 of 315
December 2024 64 236 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 63 days, Aberdeenshire has moved down 14 places in the table.

By type of application

Year to September 2026 · types with at least ten decisions

The headline median mixes every kind of application together. A householder extension and an outline application for a housing site are not the same job, and the difference between them is usually larger than the difference between two councils.

  1. Prior approval 128 decided 28 days
  2. Trees 82 decided 39 days
  3. Lawful development 25 decided 59 days
  4. Advertising 35 decided 62 days
  5. Other 22 decided 62 days
  6. Outline 69 decided 72 days
  7. Full applications 870 decided 73 days
  8. Conditions 27 decided 83 days
  9. Heritage and listed buildings 102 decided 85 days

How these types compare nationally

What Aberdeenshire decides

Year to September 2026

Aberdeenshire issued 1,403 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 95% were approvals: 1,212 granted against 64 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes sit outside that percentage rather than being counted as either.

Speed and approval rate are separate things. A council that refuses quickly is not doing the same job as one that negotiates an approval slowly, and neither figure alone says which served the applicant better.

Common questions

How long does a planning decision take in Aberdeenshire?

The median planning application decided by Aberdeenshire in the year to September 2026 took 65 days from submission to decision, 9 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,403 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 255 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Aberdeenshire meet the eight week target?

34% of the 1,403 decisions Aberdeenshire made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 68% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 208 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Aberdeenshire faster or slower than average?

Aberdeenshire is slower than average: its median of 65 days is 9 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is Aberdeenshire getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 63 days, Aberdeenshire has moved down 14 places in the table. Its median has risen by 2 days.

What proportion of applications does Aberdeenshire approve?

95% of the clear-cut outcomes Aberdeenshire issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 1,212 granted against 64 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

Aberdeenshire planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 65 days from application to decision (9 days beyond the eight week target), across 1,403 decisions with both dates published. 34% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 68% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 208 days. Ranked 255 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 95% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.