Decision times · Scotland
How long planning decisions take in Orkney Islands
99 days. Ranked 326 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Orkney Islands took 99 days from submission to decision — 43 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 228 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Orkney Islands compares
Year to September 2026
Orkney Islands takes longer than the country as a whole: 43 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 20%.
The average here is 107 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 187 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 46 20%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 56 25%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 126 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 | 99 | 326 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 92 | 315 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 75 | 219 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 64 | 201 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 67 | 265 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 69 | 254 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 69 | 255 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 69 | 265 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 67 days, Orkney Islands has moved down 61 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 25 decided 37 days
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Prior approval 22 decided 44 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 19 decided 91 days
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Householder 34 decided 100 days
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Outline 13 decided 127 days
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Full applications 93 decided 133 days
What Orkney Islands decides
Year to September 2026
Orkney Islands issued 228 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 96% were approvals: 188 granted against 8 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 Orkney Islands?
The median planning application decided by Orkney Islands in the year to September 2026 took 99 days from submission to decision, 43 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 228 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 326 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Orkney Islands meet the eight week target?
20% of the 228 decisions Orkney Islands 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 187 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Orkney Islands faster or slower than average?
Orkney Islands is slower than average: its median of 99 days is 43 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Orkney Islands getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 67 days, Orkney Islands has moved down 61 places in the table. Its median has risen by 32 days.
What proportion of applications does Orkney Islands approve?
96% of the clear-cut outcomes Orkney Islands issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 188 granted against 8 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Orkney Islands planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 99 days from application to decision (43 days beyond the eight week target), across 228 decisions with both dates published. 20% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 45% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 187 days. Ranked 326 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 96% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.