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Decision times · Scotland

How long planning decisions take in South Lanarkshire

72 days. Ranked 38 of 45.

In the year to December 2026, the median planning application decided by South Lanarkshire took 72 days from submission to decision — 16 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 945 decisions where the council published both dates.

72 days
Median decision 16 days beyond the eight week target
38 of 45
UK rank First measured window
33%
Within eight weeks 67% within thirteen
158 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How South Lanarkshire compares

Year to December 2026

South Lanarkshire takes longer than the country as a whole: 15 days above the national median of 57 days. Nationally 49% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 33%.

The average here is 94 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 158 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 311 33%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 324 34%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 310 33%

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.

South Lanarkshire: 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 72 38 of 45
September 2026 68 47 of 56
June 2026 64 34 of 39

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 17 decided 41 days
  2. Conditions 25 decided 51 days
  3. Lawful development 37 decided 53 days
  4. Advertising 24 decided 62 days
  5. Trees 18 decided 63 days
  6. Householder 217 decided 65 days
  7. Heritage and listed buildings 30 decided 105 days
  8. Outline 16 decided 105 days
  9. Full applications 189 decided 113 days

How these types compare nationally

What South Lanarkshire decides

Year to December 2026

South Lanarkshire issued 945 decisions in the year to December 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 94% were approvals: 624 granted against 37 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 South Lanarkshire?

The median planning application decided by South Lanarkshire in the year to December 2026 took 72 days from submission to decision, 16 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 945 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 38 of 45 UK councils on decision speed.

Does South Lanarkshire meet the eight week target?

33% of the 945 decisions South Lanarkshire made in the year to December 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 67% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 158 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is South Lanarkshire faster or slower than average?

South Lanarkshire is slower than average: its median of 72 days is 15 days above the national median of 57 days.

What proportion of applications does South Lanarkshire approve?

94% of the clear-cut outcomes South Lanarkshire issued in the year to December 2026 were approvals: 624 granted against 37 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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South Lanarkshire planning decision times, year to December 2026: median 72 days from application to decision (16 days beyond the eight week target), across 945 decisions with both dates published. 33% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 67% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 158 days. Ranked 38 of 45 UK councils on decision speed (national median 57 days). 94% 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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