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Decision times · Scotland

How long planning decisions take in North Ayrshire

48 days. Ranked 22 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by North Ayrshire took 48 days from submission to decision — 8 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 464 decisions where the council published both dates.

48 days
Median decision 8 days inside the eight week target
22 of 343
UK rank up 37 places in a year
65%
Within eight weeks 92% within thirteen
87 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How North Ayrshire compares

Year to September 2026

North Ayrshire decides faster than the country as a whole: 8 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 65%.

The average here is 55 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 87 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 303 65%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 122 26%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 39 8%

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.

North Ayrshire: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
September 2026 48 22 of 343
June 2026 45 24 of 328
March 2026 48 49 of 243
December 2025 49 96 of 236
September 2025 48 59 of 324
June 2025 47 23 of 313
March 2025 46 17 of 315
December 2024 47 23 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 48 days, North Ayrshire has moved up 37 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.

  1. Outline 17 decided 15 days
  2. Lawful development 36 decided 22 days
  3. Trees 28 decided 22 days
  4. Other 14 decided 26 days
  5. Full applications 318 decided 52 days
  6. Heritage and listed buildings 32 decided 56 days
  7. Advertising 11 decided 60 days

How these types compare nationally

What North Ayrshire decides

Year to September 2026

North Ayrshire issued 464 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 97% were approvals: 388 granted against 13 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 North Ayrshire?

The median planning application decided by North Ayrshire in the year to September 2026 took 48 days from submission to decision, 8 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 464 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 22 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does North Ayrshire meet the eight week target?

65% of the 464 decisions North Ayrshire made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 92% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 87 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is North Ayrshire faster or slower than average?

North Ayrshire is faster than average: its median of 48 days is 8 days below the national median of 56 days.

Is North Ayrshire getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 48 days, North Ayrshire has moved up 37 places in the table. Its median has not changed.

What proportion of applications does North Ayrshire approve?

97% of the clear-cut outcomes North Ayrshire issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 388 granted against 13 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

Click the text to select the whole citation.

North Ayrshire planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 48 days from application to decision (8 days inside the eight week target), across 464 decisions with both dates published. 65% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 92% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 87 days. Ranked 22 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 97% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.