Decision times · South West
How long planning decisions take in Isles of Scilly
56 days.
In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Isles of Scilly took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 79 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 Isles of Scilly compares
Year to December 2026
Isles of Scilly decides faster than the country as a whole: 1 day below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 54%.
The average here is 98 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 134 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 43 54%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 19 24%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 17 22%
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 16 decided 38 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 11 decided 56 days
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Householder 17 decided 56 days
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Full applications 26 decided 63 days
What Isles of Scilly decides
Year to December 2026
Isles of Scilly issued 79 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 94% were approvals: 73 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 Isles of Scilly?
The median planning application decided by Isles of Scilly in the year to December 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 79 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.
Does Isles of Scilly meet the eight week target?
54% of the 79 decisions Isles of Scilly made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 78% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 134 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Isles of Scilly faster or slower than average?
Isles of Scilly is faster than average: its median of 56 days is 1 day below the national median of 57 days.
What proportion of applications does Isles of Scilly approve?
94% of the clear-cut outcomes Isles of Scilly issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 73 granted against 5 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Isles of Scilly planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 79 decisions with both dates published. 54% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 78% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 134 days. 94% 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/isles-of-scilly">Planning decision times, from PlanIndex</a></p>