Decision times · Scotland
How long planning decisions take in Shetland Islands
61 days. Ranked 227 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Shetland Islands took 61 days from submission to decision — 5 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 294 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Shetland Islands compares
Year to September 2026
Shetland Islands 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 44%.
The average here is 74 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 117 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
-
Within eight weeks the statutory target 130 44%
-
Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 98 33%
-
Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 66 22%
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 | 227 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 57 | 206 of 328 |
| March 2026 | 57 | 182 of 243 |
| December 2025 | 61 | 194 of 236 |
| September 2025 | 48 | 61 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 51 | 45 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 51 | 46 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 50 | 44 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 48 days, Shetland Islands has moved down 166 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.
-
Prior approval 25 decided 27 days
-
Conditions 77 decided 42 days
-
Heritage and listed buildings 14 decided 64 days
-
Full applications 122 decided 75 days
-
Outline 10 decided 84 days
What Shetland Islands decides
Year to September 2026
Shetland Islands issued 294 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 99% were approvals: 268 granted against 2 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 Shetland Islands?
The median planning application decided by Shetland Islands in the year to September 2026 took 61 days from submission to decision, 5 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 294 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 227 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Shetland Islands meet the eight week target?
44% of the 294 decisions Shetland Islands made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 78% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 117 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Shetland Islands faster or slower than average?
Shetland Islands is slower than average: its median of 61 days is 5 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Shetland Islands getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 48 days, Shetland Islands has moved down 166 places in the table. Its median has risen by 13 days.
What proportion of applications does Shetland Islands approve?
99% of the clear-cut outcomes Shetland Islands issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 268 granted against 2 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
Click the text to select the whole citation.
Shetland Islands planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 61 days from application to decision (5 days beyond the eight week target), across 294 decisions with both dates published. 44% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 78% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 117 days. Ranked 227 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 99% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.