Decision times · Northern Ireland
How long planning decisions take in Mid Ulster
98 days. Ranked 324 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Mid Ulster took 98 days from submission to decision — 42 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 697 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Mid Ulster compares
Year to September 2026
Mid Ulster takes longer than the country as a whole: 42 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 22%.
The average here is 128 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 238 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 151 22%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 160 23%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 386 55%
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 | 98 | 324 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 90 | 312 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 90 | 229 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 74 | 213 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 123 | 315 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 125 | 306 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 125 | 308 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 124 | 312 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 123 days, Mid Ulster has moved down 9 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 37 decided 47 days
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Amendments 31 decided 56 days
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Lawful development 57 decided 81 days
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Reserved matters 77 decided 90 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 11 decided 96 days
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Full applications 374 decided 105 days
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Outline 97 decided 130 days
What Mid Ulster decides
Year to September 2026
Mid Ulster issued 697 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 98% were approvals: 612 granted against 14 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 Ulster?
The median planning application decided by Mid Ulster in the year to September 2026 took 98 days from submission to decision, 42 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 697 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 324 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Mid Ulster meet the eight week target?
22% of the 697 decisions Mid Ulster made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 45% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 238 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 Ulster faster or slower than average?
Mid Ulster is slower than average: its median of 98 days is 42 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Mid Ulster getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 123 days, Mid Ulster has moved down 9 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 25 days.
What proportion of applications does Mid Ulster approve?
98% of the clear-cut outcomes Mid Ulster issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 612 granted against 14 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Mid Ulster planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 98 days from application to decision (42 days beyond the eight week target), across 697 decisions with both dates published. 22% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 45% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 238 days. Ranked 324 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 98% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.