Decision times · South West
How long planning decisions take in Isles of Scilly
56 days. Ranked 172 of 343.
In the year to September 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 73 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Isles of Scilly compares
Year to September 2026
Isles of Scilly sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 60%.
The average here is 65 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 100 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 44 60%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 21 29%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 8 11%
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 | 56 | 172 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 55 | 140 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 55 | 148 of 243 |
| September 2025 | 51 | 95 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 55 | 113 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 55 | 113 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 55 | 113 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 51 days, Isles of Scilly has moved down 77 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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Trees 18 decided 38 days
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Full applications 19 decided 63 days
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Householder 20 decided 65 days
What Isles of Scilly decides
Year to September 2026
Isles of Scilly issued 73 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 99% were approvals: 71 granted against 1 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 September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 73 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 172 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Isles of Scilly meet the eight week target?
60% of the 73 decisions Isles of Scilly made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 89% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 100 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 sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.
Is Isles of Scilly getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 51 days, Isles of Scilly has moved down 77 places in the table. Its median has risen by 5 days.
What proportion of applications does Isles of Scilly approve?
99% of the clear-cut outcomes Isles of Scilly issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 71 granted against 1 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 September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 73 decisions with both dates published. 60% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 89% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 100 days. Ranked 172 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 99% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.