Decision times · Northern Ireland
How long planning decisions take in Ards and North Down
89 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Ards and North Down took 89 days from submission to decision — 33 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 588 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.
How Ards and North Down compares
Year to December 2026
Ards and North Down takes longer than the country as a whole: 32 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 30%.
The average here is 135 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 293 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 176 30%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 128 22%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 284 48%
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.
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Amendments 28 decided 41 days
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Conditions 47 decided 61 days
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Reserved matters 13 decided 94 days
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Full applications 411 decided 96 days
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Advertising 37 decided 99 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 16 decided 153 days
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Outline 21 decided 356 days
What Ards and North Down decides
Year to December 2026
Ards and North Down issued 588 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 96% were approvals: 540 granted against 20 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 December 2026 took 89 days from submission to decision, 33 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 588 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Ards and North Down meet the eight week target?
30% of the 588 decisions Ards and North Down made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 52% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 293 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 89 days is 32 days above the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Ards and North Down approve?
96% of the clear-cut outcomes Ards and North Down issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 540 granted against 20 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 December 2026: median 89 days from application to decision (33 days beyond the eight week target), across 588 decisions with both dates published. 30% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 52% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 293 days. 96% 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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<p>Data: <a href="https://planindex.co.uk/planning-decision-times/ards-and-north-down">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>