Decision times · North East
How long planning decisions take in Stockton-on-Tees
59 days. Ranked 215 of 343.
In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Stockton-on-Tees took 59 days from submission to decision — 3 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 228 decisions where the council published both dates.
How Stockton-on-Tees compares
Year to September 2026
Stockton-on-Tees takes longer than the country as a whole: 3 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 85 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 168 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.
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Within eight weeks the statutory target 100 44%
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Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 66 29%
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Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 62 27%
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 | 59 | 215 of 343 |
| June 2026 | 58 | 223 of 328 |
| September 2025 | 57 | 203 of 324 |
| June 2025 | 57 | 164 of 313 |
| March 2025 | 57 | 167 of 315 |
| December 2024 | 57 | 173 of 319 |
Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 57 days, Stockton-on-Tees has moved down 12 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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Telecoms 25 decided 28 days
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Trees 19 decided 51 days
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Lawful development 11 decided 58 days
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Amendments 14 decided 60 days
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Advertising 10 decided 63 days
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Conditions 33 decided 66 days
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Full applications 90 decided 79 days
What Stockton-on-Tees decides
Year to September 2026
Stockton-on-Tees issued 228 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 95% were approvals: 172 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 Stockton-on-Tees?
The median planning application decided by Stockton-on-Tees in the year to September 2026 took 59 days from submission to decision, 3 days beyond the eight week target. That is measured across 228 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 215 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.
Does Stockton-on-Tees meet the eight week target?
44% of the 228 decisions Stockton-on-Tees made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 73% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 168 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.
Is Stockton-on-Tees faster or slower than average?
Stockton-on-Tees is slower than average: its median of 59 days is 3 days above the national median of 56 days.
Is Stockton-on-Tees getting faster or slower?
Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 57 days, Stockton-on-Tees has moved down 12 places in the table. Its median has risen by 2 days.
What proportion of applications does Stockton-on-Tees approve?
95% of the clear-cut outcomes Stockton-on-Tees issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 172 granted against 10 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.
Cite these figures
Click the text to select the whole citation.
Stockton-on-Tees planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 59 days from application to decision (3 days beyond the eight week target), across 228 decisions with both dates published. 44% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 73% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 168 days. Ranked 215 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 95% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.