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Decision times · North East

How long planning decisions take in Darlington

54 days. Ranked 90 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Darlington took 54 days from submission to decision — 2 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 184 decisions where the council published both dates.

54 days
Median decision 2 days inside the eight week target
90 of 343
UK rank down 53 places in a year
52%
Within eight weeks 83% within thirteen
140 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Darlington compares

Year to September 2026

Darlington decides faster than the country as a whole: 2 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 52%.

The average here is 74 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 140 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 96 52%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 57 31%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 31 17%

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.

Darlington: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
September 2026 54 90 of 343
June 2026 59 228 of 328
September 2025 41 37 of 324
June 2025 40 8 of 313
March 2025 40 7 of 315
December 2024 40 8 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 41 days, Darlington has moved down 53 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.

  1. Telecoms 12 decided 28 days
  2. Amendments 14 decided 33 days
  3. Trees 27 decided 38 days
  4. Lawful development 13 decided 39 days
  5. Conditions 15 decided 43 days
  6. Full applications 73 decided 70 days
  7. Heritage and listed buildings 10 decided 75 days
  8. Advertising 11 decided 76 days

How these types compare nationally

What Darlington decides

Year to September 2026

Darlington issued 184 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 97% were approvals: 170 granted against 5 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 Darlington?

The median planning application decided by Darlington in the year to September 2026 took 54 days from submission to decision, 2 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 184 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 90 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Darlington meet the eight week target?

52% of the 184 decisions Darlington made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 83% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 140 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Darlington faster or slower than average?

Darlington is faster than average: its median of 54 days is 2 days below the national median of 56 days.

Is Darlington getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 41 days, Darlington has moved down 53 places in the table. Its median has risen by 13 days.

What proportion of applications does Darlington approve?

97% of the clear-cut outcomes Darlington issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 170 granted against 5 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Darlington planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 54 days from application to decision (2 days inside the eight week target), across 184 decisions with both dates published. 52% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 83% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 140 days. Ranked 90 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 97% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.