Decision times · North East
How long planning decisions take in Gateshead
82 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Gateshead took 82 days from submission to decision — 26 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 207 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 Gateshead compares
Year to December 2026
Gateshead takes longer than the country as a whole: 25 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 29%.
The average here is 149 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 348 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 59 29%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 58 28%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 90 43%
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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Trees 41 decided 41 days
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Full applications 53 decided 191 days
What Gateshead decides
Year to December 2026
Gateshead issued 207 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 89% were approvals: 144 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 Gateshead?
The median planning application decided by Gateshead in the year to December 2026 took 82 days from submission to decision, 26 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 207 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Gateshead meet the eight week target?
29% of the 207 decisions Gateshead made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 57% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 348 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Gateshead faster or slower than average?
Gateshead is slower than average: its median of 82 days is 25 days above the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Gateshead approve?
89% of the clear-cut outcomes Gateshead issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 144 granted against 17 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Gateshead planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 82 days from application to decision (26 days beyond the eight week target), across 207 decisions with both dates published. 29% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 57% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 348 days. 89% 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/gateshead">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>