Decision times · Scotland
How long planning decisions take in Scottish Borders
61 days. Ranked 225 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Scottish Borders took 61 days from submission to decision — 5 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 908 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Scottish Borders compares
Year to September 2026
Scottish Borders takes longer than the country as a whole: 5 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 43%.
The average here is 84 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 175 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 392 43%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 267 29%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 249 27%
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 | 61 | 225 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 59 | 225 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 59 | 187 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 60 | 191 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 70 | 275 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 69 | 249 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 61 | 201 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 59 | 185 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 70 days, Scottish Borders has moved up 50 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 55 decided 27 days
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Lawful development 53 decided 28 days
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Other 41 decided 30 days
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Heritage and listed buildings 116 decided 64 days
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Advertising 14 decided 65 days
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Full applications 561 decided 65 days
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Outline 35 decided 83 days
What Scottish Borders decides
Year to September 2026
Scottish Borders issued 908 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 94% were approvals: 812 granted against 56 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 Scottish Borders?
The median planning application decided by Scottish Borders in the year to September 2026 took 61 days from submission to decision, 5 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 908 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 225 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Scottish Borders meet the eight week target?
43% of the 908 decisions Scottish Borders made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 73% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 175 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Scottish Borders faster or slower than average?
Scottish Borders is slower than average: its median of 61 days is 5 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Scottish Borders getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 70 days, Scottish Borders has moved up 50 places in the table. Its median has fallen by 9 days.
What proportion of applications does Scottish Borders approve?
94% of the clear-cut outcomes Scottish Borders issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 812 granted against 56 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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Scottish Borders planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 61 days from application to decision (5 days beyond the eight week target), across 908 decisions with both dates published. 43% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 73% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 175 days. Ranked 225 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 94% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.