How long North Devon takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 201 decisions it made in the twelve months to August 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.
50 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 51 from receipt
81%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 90% within thirteen
111 of 321UK rank for speed, up 208 places on last year; 62 of 321 for approvals
Median days from validation to decision, by month of decision. Dashed line: UK median (52 days). Grid at 56 and 91 days, the eight and thirteen week targets.
By kind of application
Kind
Median days
Within 8 weeks
Approved
Decisions
UK rank
Full applications (including householder)
50
79%
97%
64
29 of 302
Tree works
52
97%
97%
36
225 of 259
Discharge of conditions
44
70%
100%
30
57 of 175
Prior approvals *
54
70%
80%
22
154 of 168
Listed building consent *
50
93%
100%
15
16 of 200
Amendments *
50
67%
100%
13
211 of 263
Delegated or committee
Route
Share
Median days
Approved
Decisions
Delegated to officers
99%
50
96%
199
Planning committee
1%
110
100%
2
Where the register states how the decision was made.
Appeals
43 appeals against North Devon decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 538 for every 100 refusals; 28% were allowed. Every appeal in North Devon.
By year
Year decided
Median days
Within 8 weeks
Approved
Decisions
2016 *
56
58%
84%
33
2017 *
51
65%
97%
31
2018 *
61
44%
97%
127
2019 *
93
35%
99%
125
2020 *
85
36%
100%
81
2021 *
63
41%
97%
147
2022 *
189
24%
100%
55
2023 *
272
19%
100%
136
2024 *
79
18%
100%
78
2025 *
66
40%
93%
45
2026 so far
51
70%
96%
201
* Years from our archive, which carries no validation date: timed from receipt, so a few days longer than the live years above them.
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 Withdrawn and undecided applications are not timed.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.