Planning decisions in North Devon

How long North Devon takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,264 decisions it made in the twelve months to September 2026. Days run from validation to decision, the clock the council reports against; the wait from receipt is shown beside it. How the figures are made.

51 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 56 from receipt
75%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 89% within thirteen
96%approved (UK 90%): 1,139 approved, 45 refused, 69 withdrawn
119 of 388UK rank for speed, up 9 places on last year; 54 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 55 days, 110 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 56 days, 119 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 50 days, 106 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 55 days, 107 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 60 days, 89 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 55 days, 132 decisionsMarApril 2026: 59 days, 94 decisionsAprMay 2026: 56 days, 95 decisionsMayJune 2026: 69 days, 108 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 56 days, 120 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 58 days, 95 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 70 days, 89 decisionsSept
Median days from validation to decision, by month of decision. Dashed line: UK median (54 days). Grid at 56 and 91 days, the eight and thirteen week targets.

By kind of application

KindMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisionsUK rank
Full applications5466%96%57046 of 359
Tree works4895%97%141245 of 324
Amendments4284%99%123129 of 356
Discharge of conditions4476%100%12356 of 310
Prior approvals2793%91%10374 of 340
Listed building consent5175%100%7617 of 307
Lawful development certificates5265%95%69182 of 348
Advertisement consent *5086%95%2444 of 320
Outline applications *6150%50%1945 of 110

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officers98%5096%1,237
Planning committee2%6496%27

Where the register states how the decision was made.

Appeals

45 appeals against North Devon decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 100 for every 100 refusals; 27% were allowed. Every appeal in North Devon.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5658%84%33
2017 *5165%97%31
2018 *6144%97%127
2019 *9335%99%125
2020 *8536%100%81
2021 *6341%97%147
2022 *18924%100%55
2023 *27219%100%136
2024 *7918%100%78
2025 *6640%93%45
2026 so far5848%96%929

* Years from our archive, which carries no validation date: timed from receipt, so a few days longer than the live years above them.

Decided in the last three weeks

Built nightly from North Devon's planning register. Ranks are among the 388 published councils. See planning applications in North Devon, appeals, or get alerts for North Devon.

About these figures

How are decision times measured?
Days from the date the council validated the application to the date it decided it, for applications approved or refused in the window. That is the clock councils report against and the official statistics use. Each council’s page also shows the count from receipt, which is what the applicant actually waited. Withdrawn and undecided applications are not timed.
Why do these figures differ from the council’s own?
Councils count an agreed extension of time as decided on time; we treat the calendar as the calendar. Our figures are also live and rolling, where official statistics are quarterly and annual. So a council’s own within-eight-weeks figure will usually sit a little above ours.
What counts as approved?
Approval rate is approvals divided by approvals plus refusals. Withdrawals, and decisions whose outcome the register does not state, are counted in the totals but not in the rate.
Why is a council missing?
A council is published when it has at least 25 timed decisions in the window and its register’s decision data passes our consistency checks. Councils that fail are listed with the reason rather than shown with a number that would mislead.
How often is this updated?
Nightly, from the decisions we collect from every council register we monitor. The window is the twelve months to the last complete month.