Decision times · Northern Ireland
How long planning decisions take in Derry City and Strabane
95 days. Ranked 322 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Derry City and Strabane took 95 days from submission to decision — 39 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 413 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Derry City and Strabane compares
Year to September 2026
Derry City and Strabane takes longer than the country as a whole: 39 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 25%.
The average here is 142 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 335 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 104 25%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 94 23%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 215 52%
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 | 95 | 322 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 85 | 309 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 78 | 223 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 66 | 207 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 158 | 318 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 154 | 309 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 152 | 311 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 149 | 316 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 158 days, Derry City and Strabane 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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Amendments 21 decided 72 days
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Conditions 79 decided 75 days
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Full applications 243 decided 99 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 13 decided 99 days
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Reserved matters 22 decided 112 days
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Advertising 12 decided 131 days
What Derry City and Strabane decides
Year to September 2026
Derry City and Strabane issued 413 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 98% were approvals: 313 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 Derry City and Strabane?
The median planning application decided by Derry City and Strabane in the year to September 2026 took 95 days from submission to decision, 39 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 413 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 322 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Derry City and Strabane meet the eight week target?
25% of the 413 decisions Derry City and Strabane made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 48% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 335 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Derry City and Strabane faster or slower than average?
Derry City and Strabane is slower than average: its median of 95 days is 39 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Derry City and Strabane getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 158 days, Derry City and Strabane has moved down 4 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 63 days.
What proportion of applications does Derry City and Strabane approve?
98% of the clear-cut outcomes Derry City and Strabane issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 313 granted against 5 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Derry City and Strabane planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 95 days from application to decision (39 days beyond the eight week target), across 413 decisions with both dates published. 25% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 48% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 335 days. Ranked 322 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 98% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.