Decision times · Scotland
How long planning decisions take in Falkirk
58 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Falkirk took 58 days from submission to decision — 2 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 390 decisions where the council published both dates.
This council carries a figure but no rank
Not ranked yet: our records do not yet pass the historical coverage, monthly continuity, missing-date and refresh checks for this window. The figure above is still what the published dates say; it is left out of the league table so it cannot distort the ranking. See the methodology.
How Falkirk compares
Year to December 2026
Falkirk takes longer than the country as a whole: 1 day above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 46%.
The average here is 90 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 191 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 181 46%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 98 25%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 111 28%
By type of application
Year to December 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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Lawful development 29 decided 46 days
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Conditions 47 decided 56 days
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Full applications 248 decided 59 days
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Advertising 23 decided 62 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 24 decided 76 days
What Falkirk decides
Year to December 2026
Falkirk issued 390 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 99% were approvals: 350 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 Falkirk?
The median planning application decided by Falkirk in the year to December 2026 took 58 days from submission to decision, 2 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 390 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Falkirk meet the eight week target?
46% of the 390 decisions Falkirk made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 72% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 191 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Falkirk faster or slower than average?
Falkirk is slower than average: its median of 58 days is 1 day above the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Falkirk approve?
99% of the clear-cut outcomes Falkirk issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 350 granted against 5 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Falkirk planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 58 days from application to decision (2 days beyond the eight week target), across 390 decisions with both dates published. 46% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 72% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 191 days. 99% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Or take the data itself: this council's history (CSV) or the full league table (CSV).
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<p>Data: <a href="https://planindex.co.uk/planning-decision-times/falkirk">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>