Decision times · North East
How long planning decisions take in South Tyneside
56 days. Ranked 170 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by South Tyneside took 56 days from submission to decision — exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 168 decisions where the council published both dates.
How South Tyneside compares
Year to September 2026
South Tyneside sits exactly on the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 56%.
The average here is 68 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 108 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 94 56%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 51 30%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 23 14%
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 | 56 | 170 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 53 | 94 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 55 | 145 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 55 | 109 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 55 | 109 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 55 | 109 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 55 days, South Tyneside has moved down 25 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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Amendments 14 decided 32 days
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Trees 39 decided 42 days
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Householder 60 decided 58 days
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Full applications 28 decided 90 days
What South Tyneside decides
Year to September 2026
South Tyneside issued 168 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 94% were approvals: 155 granted against 10 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 Tyneside?
The median planning application decided by South Tyneside in the year to September 2026 took 56 days from submission to decision, exactly the eight week target. That is measured across 168 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 170 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does South Tyneside meet the eight week target?
56% of the 168 decisions South Tyneside made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 86% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 108 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 Tyneside faster or slower than average?
South Tyneside sits exactly on the national median of 56 days.
Is South Tyneside getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 55 days, South Tyneside has moved down 25 places in the table. Its median has risen by 1 day.
What proportion of applications does South Tyneside approve?
94% of the clear-cut outcomes South Tyneside issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 155 granted against 10 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
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South Tyneside planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 56 days from application to decision (exactly the eight week target), across 168 decisions with both dates published. 56% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 86% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 108 days. Ranked 170 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 94% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.