Decision times · Scotland
How long planning decisions take in Argyll and Bute
54 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Argyll and Bute took 54 days from submission to decision — 2 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,217 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 Argyll and Bute compares
Year to December 2026
Argyll and Bute decides faster than the country as a whole: 3 days below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 52%.
The average here is 93 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 240 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 632 52%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 212 17%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 373 31%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 50 | 7 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.
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Telecoms 128 decided 1 days
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Trees 47 decided 22 days
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Other 25 decided 23 days
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Amendments 62 decided 30 days
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Conditions 95 decided 44 days
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Outline 111 decided 66 days
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Advertising 12 decided 74 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 63 decided 97 days
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Full applications 350 decided 106 days
What Argyll and Bute decides
Year to December 2026
Argyll and Bute issued 1,218 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 97% were approvals: 765 granted against 21 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 Argyll and Bute?
The median planning application decided by Argyll and Bute in the year to December 2026 took 54 days from submission to decision, 2 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,217 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Argyll and Bute meet the eight week target?
52% of the 1,217 decisions Argyll and Bute made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 69% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 240 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Argyll and Bute faster or slower than average?
Argyll and Bute is faster than average: its median of 54 days is 3 days below the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Argyll and Bute approve?
97% of the clear-cut outcomes Argyll and Bute issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 765 granted against 21 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Argyll and Bute planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 54 days from application to decision (2 days inside the eight week target), across 1,217 decisions with both dates published. 52% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 69% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 240 days. 97% 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/argyll-and-bute">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>