Decision times · Scotland
How long planning decisions take in Dundee City
57 days. Ranked 185 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Dundee City took 57 days from submission to decision — 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 630 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Dundee City compares
Year to September 2026
Dundee City takes longer than the country as a whole: 1 day above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 48%.
The average here is 66 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 114 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 300 48%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 224 36%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 106 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.
| Twelve months to | Median days | UK rank |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | 57 | 185 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 57 | 203 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 53 | 103 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 48 | 79 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 57 | 198 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 60 | 194 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 64 | 235 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 59 | 193 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 57 days, Dundee City has moved up 13 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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Trees 121 decided 34 days
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Outline 35 decided 41 days
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Prior approval 19 decided 45 days
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Conditions 67 decided 50 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 59 decided 59 days
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Full applications 264 decided 64 days
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Advertising 43 decided 65 days
What Dundee City decides
Year to September 2026
Dundee City issued 630 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 96% were approvals: 438 granted against 17 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 Dundee City?
The median planning application decided by Dundee City in the year to September 2026 took 57 days from submission to decision, 1 day beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 630 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 185 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Dundee City meet the eight week target?
48% of the 630 decisions Dundee City 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 114 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Dundee City faster or slower than average?
Dundee City is slower than average: its median of 57 days is 1 day above the national median of 56 days.
Is Dundee City getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 57 days, Dundee City has moved up 13 places in the table. Its median has not changed.
What proportion of applications does Dundee City approve?
96% of the clear-cut outcomes Dundee City issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 438 granted against 17 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Dundee City planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 57 days from application to decision (1 day beyond the eight week target), across 630 decisions with both dates published. 48% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 83% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 114 days. Ranked 185 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 96% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.