Decision times · Northern Ireland
How long planning decisions take in Lisburn and Castlereagh
95 days. Ranked 321 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Lisburn and Castlereagh took 95 days from submission to decision — 39 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 509 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Lisburn and Castlereagh compares
Year to September 2026
Lisburn and Castlereagh takes longer than the country as a whole: 39 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 17%.
The average here is 157 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 301 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 85 17%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 156 31%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 268 53%
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 | 95 | 321 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 91 | 314 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 87 | 228 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 81 | 219 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 275 | 323 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 282 | 311 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 264 | 313 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 236 | 317 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 275 days, Lisburn and Castlereagh has moved up 2 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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Conditions 45 decided 68 days
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Amendments 43 decided 90 days
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Advertising 32 decided 95 days
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Full applications 340 decided 97 days
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Reserved matters 10 decided 108 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 15 decided 142 days
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Outline 18 decided 209 days
What Lisburn and Castlereagh decides
Year to September 2026
Lisburn and Castlereagh issued 509 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 96% were approvals: 410 granted against 15 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 Lisburn and Castlereagh?
The median planning application decided by Lisburn and Castlereagh in the year to September 2026 took 95 days from submission to decision, 39 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 509 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 321 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Lisburn and Castlereagh meet the eight week target?
17% of the 509 decisions Lisburn and Castlereagh made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 47% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 301 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Lisburn and Castlereagh faster or slower than average?
Lisburn and Castlereagh is slower than average: its median of 95 days is 39 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Lisburn and Castlereagh getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 275 days, Lisburn and Castlereagh has moved up 2 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 180 days.
What proportion of applications does Lisburn and Castlereagh approve?
96% of the clear-cut outcomes Lisburn and Castlereagh issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 410 granted against 15 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Lisburn and Castlereagh planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 95 days from application to decision (39 days beyond the eight week target), across 509 decisions with both dates published. 17% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 47% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 301 days. Ranked 321 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 96% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.