Decision times · Northern Ireland
How long planning decisions take in Mid and East Antrim
66 days. Ranked 264 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Mid and East Antrim took 66 days from submission to decision — 10 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 585 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Mid and East Antrim compares
Year to September 2026
Mid and East Antrim takes longer than the country as a whole: 10 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 39%.
The average here is 91 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 182 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
-
Within eight weeks the statutory target 228 39%
-
Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 187 32%
-
Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 170 29%
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 | 66 | 264 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 62 | 240 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 51 | 83 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 49 | 98 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 49 | 69 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 51 | 43 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 51 | 45 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 51 | 49 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 49 days, Mid and East Antrim has moved down 195 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.
-
Amendments 39 decided 20 days
-
Conditions 35 decided 39 days
-
Outline 50 decided 64 days
-
Reserved matters 37 decided 66 days
-
Full applications 362 decided 73 days
-
Advertising 41 decided 107 days
What Mid and East Antrim decides
Year to September 2026
Mid and East Antrim issued 585 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 91% were approvals: 470 granted against 48 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 Mid and East Antrim?
The median planning application decided by Mid and East Antrim in the year to September 2026 took 66 days from submission to decision, 10 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 585 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 264 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Mid and East Antrim meet the eight week target?
39% of the 585 decisions Mid and East Antrim made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 71% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 182 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Mid and East Antrim faster or slower than average?
Mid and East Antrim is slower than average: its median of 66 days is 10 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Mid and East Antrim getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 49 days, Mid and East Antrim has moved down 195 places in the table. Its median has risen by 17 days.
What proportion of applications does Mid and East Antrim approve?
91% of the clear-cut outcomes Mid and East Antrim issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 470 granted against 48 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
Click the text to select the whole citation.
Mid and East Antrim planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 66 days from application to decision (10 days beyond the eight week target), across 585 decisions with both dates published. 39% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 71% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 182 days. Ranked 264 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 91% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.