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Decision times · Scotland

How long planning decisions take in Scottish Borders

63 days.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Scottish Borders took 63 days from submission to decision — 7 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 836 decisions where the council published both dates.

This council carries a figure but no rank

Not ranked yet: our records do not yet pass the historical coverage, monthly continuity, missing-date and refresh checks for this window. The figure above is still what the published dates say; it is left out of the league table so it cannot distort the ranking. See the methodology.

63 days
Median decision 7 days beyond the eight week target
41%
Within eight weeks 70% within thirteen
210 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Scottish Borders compares

Year to December 2026

Scottish Borders takes longer than the country as a whole: 6 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 41%.

The average here is 100 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 210 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 344 41%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 241 29%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 251 30%

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.

Scottish Borders: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
March 2026 62 25 of 38
December 2025 63 11 of 24
September 2025 64 20 of 27
June 2025 63 23 of 31
March 2025 60 21 of 30
December 2024 61 41 of 57

By type of application

Year to December 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. Lawful development 41 decided 27 days
  2. Prior approval 37 decided 27 days
  3. Other 29 decided 36 days
  4. Advertising 16 decided 58 days
  5. Heritage and listed buildings 106 decided 64 days
  6. Full applications 522 decided 69 days
  7. Outline 27 decided 84 days

How these types compare nationally

What Scottish Borders decides

Year to December 2026

Scottish Borders issued 836 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 93% were approvals: 742 granted against 55 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 December 2026 took 63 days from submission to decision, 7 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 836 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date.

Does Scottish Borders meet the eight week target?

41% of the 836 decisions Scottish Borders made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 70% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 210 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 63 days is 6 days above the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does Scottish Borders approve?

93% of the clear-cut outcomes Scottish Borders issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 742 granted against 55 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 December 2026: median 63 days from application to decision (7 days beyond the eight week target), across 836 decisions with both dates published. 41% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 70% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 210 days. 93% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.

Or take the data itself: this council's history (CSV) or the full league table (CSV).

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