Decision times · Northern Ireland
How long planning decisions take in Ards and North Down
80 days. Ranked 304 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Ards and North Down took 80 days from submission to decision — 24 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 611 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Ards and North Down compares
Year to September 2026
Ards and North Down takes longer than the country as a whole: 24 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 32%.
The average here is 131 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 266 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 196 32%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 151 25%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 264 43%
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.
| Twelve months to | Median days | UK rank |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | 80 | 304 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 76 | 295 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 69 | 214 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 59 | 189 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 119 | 314 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 123 | 305 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 122 | 307 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 121 | 311 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 119 days, Ards and North Down has moved up 10 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.
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Amendments 28 decided 45 days
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Conditions 50 decided 50 days
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Reserved matters 15 decided 57 days
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Full applications 419 decided 83 days
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Advertising 40 decided 96 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 22 decided 109 days
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Outline 20 decided 369 days
What Ards and North Down decides
Year to September 2026
Ards and North Down issued 611 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 97% were approvals: 507 granted against 17 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 Ards and North Down?
The median planning application decided by Ards and North Down in the year to September 2026 took 80 days from submission to decision, 24 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 611 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 304 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Ards and North Down meet the eight week target?
32% of the 611 decisions Ards and North Down made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 57% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 266 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Ards and North Down faster or slower than average?
Ards and North Down is slower than average: its median of 80 days is 24 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Ards and North Down getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 119 days, Ards and North Down has moved up 10 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 39 days.
What proportion of applications does Ards and North Down approve?
97% of the clear-cut outcomes Ards and North Down issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 507 granted against 17 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Ards and North Down planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 80 days from application to decision (24 days beyond the eight week target), across 611 decisions with both dates published. 32% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 57% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 266 days. Ranked 304 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 97% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.