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Decision times · Scotland

How long planning decisions take in Aberdeenshire

66 days.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Aberdeenshire took 66 days from submission to decision — 10 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,424 decisions where the council published both dates.

This council carries a figure but no rank

Not ranked yet: our records do not yet pass the historical coverage, monthly continuity, missing-date and refresh checks for this window. The figure above is still what the published dates say; it is left out of the league table so it cannot distort the ranking. See the methodology.

66 days
Median decision 10 days beyond the eight week target
35%
Within eight weeks 68% within thirteen
195 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Aberdeenshire compares

Year to December 2026

Aberdeenshire takes longer than the country as a whole: 9 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 35%.

The average here is 96 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 195 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 496 35%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 478 34%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 450 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
June 2026 62 32 of 39
March 2026 63 26 of 38
September 2025 61 17 of 27
June 2025 62 20 of 31
March 2025 62 24 of 30
December 2024 63 42 of 57

By type of application

Year to December 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 135 decided 28 days
  2. Trees 48 decided 34 days
  3. Lawful development 20 decided 59 days
  4. Other 18 decided 61 days
  5. Outline 59 decided 68 days
  6. Advertising 30 decided 69 days
  7. Full applications 730 decided 72 days
  8. Heritage and listed buildings 85 decided 78 days
  9. Conditions 24 decided 84 days

How these types compare nationally

What Aberdeenshire decides

Year to December 2026

Aberdeenshire issued 1,424 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 95% were approvals: 1,202 granted against 61 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 December 2026 took 66 days from submission to decision, 10 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 1,424 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.

Does Aberdeenshire meet the eight week target?

35% of the 1,424 decisions Aberdeenshire made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 68% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 195 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 66 days is 9 days above the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does Aberdeenshire approve?

95% of the clear-cut outcomes Aberdeenshire issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 1,202 granted against 61 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Aberdeenshire planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 66 days from application to decision (10 days beyond the eight week target), across 1,424 decisions with both dates published. 35% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 68% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 195 days. 95% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.

Or take the data itself: this council's history (CSV) or the full league table (CSV).

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