Decision times · North East
How long planning decisions take in Redcar and Cleveland
56 days. Ranked 171 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Redcar and Cleveland took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 165 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Redcar and Cleveland compares
Year to September 2026
Redcar and Cleveland sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 52%.
The average here is 93 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 227 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 86 52%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 39 24%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 40 24%
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 | 56 | 171 of 343 |
| September 2025 | 57 | 205 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 57 | 165 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 57 | 168 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 57 | 174 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 57 days, Redcar and Cleveland has moved up 34 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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Prior approval 13 decided 10 days
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Trees 16 decided 28 days
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Conditions 20 decided 55 days
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Full applications 54 decided 63 days
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Amendments 12 decided 71 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 27 decided 80 days
What Redcar and Cleveland decides
Year to September 2026
Redcar and Cleveland issued 165 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 93% were approvals: 130 granted against 10 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 Redcar and Cleveland?
The median planning application decided by Redcar and Cleveland in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 165 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 171 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Redcar and Cleveland meet the eight week target?
52% of the 165 decisions Redcar and Cleveland made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 76% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 227 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Redcar and Cleveland faster or slower than average?
Redcar and Cleveland sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.
Is Redcar and Cleveland getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 57 days, Redcar and Cleveland has moved up 34 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 1 day.
What proportion of applications does Redcar and Cleveland approve?
93% of the clear-cut outcomes Redcar and Cleveland issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 130 granted against 10 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Redcar and Cleveland planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 165 decisions with both dates published. 52% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 76% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 227 days. Ranked 171 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 93% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.