Decision times · Scotland
How long planning decisions take in City of Edinburgh
39 days. Ranked 5 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by City of Edinburgh took 39 days from submission to decision — 17 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,562 decisions where the council published both dates.
How City of Edinburgh compares
Year to September 2026
City of Edinburgh decides faster than the country as a whole: 17 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 67%.
The average here is 46 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 90 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 1,048 67%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 360 23%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 154 10%
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 | 39 | 5 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 39 | 7 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 37 | 9 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 16 | 1 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 11 | 1 of 324 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 11 days, City of Edinburgh has moved down 4 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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Telecoms 49 decided 13 days
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Trees 308 decided 14 days
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Prior approval 67 decided 24 days
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Conditions 59 decided 37 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 356 decided 39 days
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Lawful development 113 decided 41 days
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Advertising 55 decided 55 days
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Full applications 497 decided 61 days
What City of Edinburgh decides
Year to September 2026
City of Edinburgh issued 1,562 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 86% were approvals: 810 granted against 135 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 City of Edinburgh?
The median planning application decided by City of Edinburgh in the year to September 2026 took 39 days from submission to decision, 17 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 1,562 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 5 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does City of Edinburgh meet the eight week target?
67% of the 1,562 decisions City of Edinburgh made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 90% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 90 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is City of Edinburgh faster or slower than average?
City of Edinburgh is faster than average: its median of 39 days is 17 days below the national median of 56 days.
Is City of Edinburgh getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 11 days, City of Edinburgh has moved down 4 places in the table. Its median has risen by 28 days.
What proportion of applications does City of Edinburgh approve?
86% of the clear-cut outcomes City of Edinburgh issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 810 granted against 135 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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City of Edinburgh planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 39 days from application to decision (17 days inside the eight week target), across 1,562 decisions with both dates published. 67% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 90% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 90 days. Ranked 5 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 86% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.