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Decision times · Scotland

How long planning decisions take in East Renfrewshire

49 days. Ranked 28 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by East Renfrewshire took 49 days from submission to decision — 7 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 603 decisions where the council published both dates.

49 days
Median decision 7 days inside the eight week target
28 of 343
UK rank up 99 places in a year
60%
Within eight weeks 83% within thirteen
118 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How East Renfrewshire compares

Year to September 2026

East Renfrewshire decides faster than the country as a whole: 7 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 60%.

The average here is 60 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 118 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 364 60%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 135 22%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 104 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.

East Renfrewshire: 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 49 28 of 343
June 2026 49 44 of 328
March 2026 49 57 of 243
December 2025 41 35 of 236
September 2025 54 127 of 324
June 2025 74 272 of 313
March 2025 74 276 of 315
December 2024 74 284 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 54 days, East Renfrewshire has moved up 99 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. Trees 75 decided 24 days
  2. Lawful development 41 decided 28 days
  3. Prior approval 11 decided 35 days
  4. Full applications 457 decided 53 days

How these types compare nationally

What East Renfrewshire decides

Year to September 2026

East Renfrewshire issued 603 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 93% were approvals: 549 granted against 39 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 East Renfrewshire?

The median planning application decided by East Renfrewshire in the year to September 2026 took 49 days from submission to decision, 7 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 603 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 28 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does East Renfrewshire meet the eight week target?

60% of the 603 decisions East Renfrewshire 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 118 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is East Renfrewshire faster or slower than average?

East Renfrewshire is faster than average: its median of 49 days is 7 days below the national median of 56 days.

Is East Renfrewshire getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 54 days, East Renfrewshire has moved up 99 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 5 days.

What proportion of applications does East Renfrewshire approve?

93% of the clear-cut outcomes East Renfrewshire issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 549 granted against 39 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

East Renfrewshire planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 49 days from application to decision (7 days inside the eight week target), across 603 decisions with both dates published. 60% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 83% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 118 days. Ranked 28 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 93% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.