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Decision times · Scotland

How long planning decisions take in Stirling

58 days. Ranked 200 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Stirling took 58 days from submission to decision — 2 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 612 decisions where the council published both dates.

58 days
Median decision 2 days beyond the eight week target
200 of 343
UK rank down 147 places in a year
46%
Within eight weeks 82% within thirteen
116 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Stirling compares

Year to September 2026

Stirling takes longer than the country as a whole: 2 days above the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 46%.

The average here is 69 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 116 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 281 46%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 223 36%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 108 18%

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.

Stirling: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
September 2026 58 200 of 343
June 2026 56 175 of 328
March 2026 50 68 of 243
December 2025 40 30 of 236
September 2025 47 53 of 324
June 2025 56 139 of 313
March 2025 56 139 of 315
December 2024 56 141 of 319

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 47 days, Stirling has moved down 147 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.

  1. Trees 110 decided 24 days
  2. Other 11 decided 29 days
  3. Advertising 21 decided 62 days
  4. Full applications 331 decided 63 days
  5. Lawful development 27 decided 64 days
  6. Heritage and listed buildings 89 decided 66 days

How these types compare nationally

What Stirling decides

Year to September 2026

Stirling issued 612 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 99% were approvals: 472 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 Stirling?

The median planning application decided by Stirling in the year to September 2026 took 58 days from submission to decision, 2 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 612 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 200 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Stirling meet the eight week target?

46% of the 612 decisions Stirling made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 82% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 116 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Stirling faster or slower than average?

Stirling is slower than average: its median of 58 days is 2 days above the national median of 56 days.

Is Stirling getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 47 days, Stirling has moved down 147 places in the table. Its median has risen by 11 days.

What proportion of applications does Stirling approve?

99% of the clear-cut outcomes Stirling issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 472 granted against 3 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Stirling planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 58 days from application to decision (2 days beyond the eight week target), across 612 decisions with both dates published. 46% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 82% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 116 days. Ranked 200 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 99% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.