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Decision times · Scotland

How long planning decisions take in Highland

67 days. Ranked 268 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Highland took 67 days from submission to decision — 11 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 2,000 decisions where the council published both dates.

67 days
Median decision 11 days beyond the eight week target
268 of 343
UK rank up 53 places in a year
35%
Within eight weeks 73% within thirteen
156 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Highland compares

Year to September 2026

Highland takes longer than the country as a whole: 11 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 35%.

The average here is 85 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 156 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 701 35%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 763 38%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 536 27%

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.

Highland: 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 67 268 of 343
June 2026 66 271 of 328
March 2026 65 208 of 243
December 2025 62 195 of 236
September 2025 164 321 of 324
June 2025 164 310 of 313
March 2025 150 310 of 315
December 2024 126 313 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 164 days, Highland has moved up 53 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. Prior approval 209 decided 28 days
  2. Advertising 49 decided 51 days
  3. Lawful development 97 decided 56 days
  4. Outline 176 decided 65 days
  5. Full applications 1,283 decided 71 days
  6. Heritage and listed buildings 75 decided 80 days
  7. Conditions 28 decided 85 days

How these types compare nationally

What Highland decides

Year to September 2026

Highland issued 2,000 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 97% were approvals: 1,678 granted against 44 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 Highland?

The median planning application decided by Highland in the year to September 2026 took 67 days from submission to decision, 11 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 2,000 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 268 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Highland meet the eight week target?

35% of the 2,000 decisions Highland made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 73% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 156 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Highland faster or slower than average?

Highland is slower than average: its median of 67 days is 11 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is Highland getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 164 days, Highland has moved up 53 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 97 days.

What proportion of applications does Highland approve?

97% of the clear-cut outcomes Highland issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 1,678 granted against 44 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Highland planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 67 days from application to decision (11 days beyond the eight week target), across 2,000 decisions with both dates published. 35% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 73% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 156 days. Ranked 268 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 97% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.