Decision times · Northern Ireland
How long planning decisions take in Fermanagh and Omagh
48 days. Ranked 21 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Fermanagh and Omagh took 48 days from submission to decision — 8 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 704 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Fermanagh and Omagh compares
Year to September 2026
Fermanagh and Omagh decides faster than the country as a whole: 8 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 59%.
The average here is 80 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 168 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 414 59%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 123 17%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 167 24%
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 | 48 | 21 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 44 | 22 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 42 | 24 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 40 | 31 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 67 | 264 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 74 | 271 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 74 | 275 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 72 | 279 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 67 days, Fermanagh and Omagh has moved up 243 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 27 decided 19 days
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Conditions 44 decided 32 days
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Reserved matters 65 decided 38 days
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Advertising 11 decided 42 days
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Full applications 454 decided 52 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 15 decided 53 days
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Outline 80 decided 57 days
What Fermanagh and Omagh decides
Year to September 2026
Fermanagh and Omagh issued 704 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 98% were approvals: 624 granted against 11 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 Fermanagh and Omagh?
The median planning application decided by Fermanagh and Omagh in the year to September 2026 took 48 days from submission to decision, 8 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 704 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 21 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Fermanagh and Omagh meet the eight week target?
59% of the 704 decisions Fermanagh and Omagh made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 76% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 168 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Fermanagh and Omagh faster or slower than average?
Fermanagh and Omagh is faster than average: its median of 48 days is 8 days below the national median of 56 days.
Is Fermanagh and Omagh getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 67 days, Fermanagh and Omagh has moved up 243 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 19 days.
What proportion of applications does Fermanagh and Omagh approve?
98% of the clear-cut outcomes Fermanagh and Omagh issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 624 granted against 11 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Fermanagh and Omagh planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 48 days from application to decision (8 days inside the eight week target), across 704 decisions with both dates published. 59% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 76% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 168 days. Ranked 21 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 98% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.