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Decision times · Scotland

How long planning decisions take in Shetland Islands

55 days. Ranked 10 of 45.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by Shetland Islands took 55 days from submission to decision — 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 287 decisions where the council published both dates.

55 days
Median decision 1 day inside the eight week target
10 of 45
UK rank First measured window
51%
Within eight weeks 78% within thirteen
132 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Shetland Islands compares

Year to December 2026

Shetland Islands decides faster than the country as a whole: 2 days below the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 51%.

The average here is 85 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 132 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 145 51%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 79 28%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 63 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.

Shetland Islands: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
December 2026 55 10 of 45
September 2026 59 40 of 56

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. Prior approval 21 decided 27 days
  2. Conditions 76 decided 29 days
  3. Heritage and listed buildings 10 decided 70 days
  4. Full applications 84 decided 75 days

How these types compare nationally

What Shetland Islands decides

Year to December 2026

Shetland Islands issued 287 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 99% were approvals: 243 granted against 3 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 December 2026 took 55 days from submission to decision, 1 day inside the eight week target. That is measured across 287 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 10 of 45 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Shetland Islands meet the eight week target?

51% of the 287 decisions Shetland Islands made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 78% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 132 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 faster than average: its median of 55 days is 2 days below the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does Shetland Islands approve?

99% of the clear-cut outcomes Shetland Islands issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 243 granted against 3 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Shetland Islands planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 55 days from application to decision (1 day inside the eight week target), across 287 decisions with both dates published. 51% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 78% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 132 days. Ranked 10 of 45 UK councils on decision speed (national median 57 days). 99% 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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