Planning decisions in North Somerset

How long North Somerset takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,687 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.

54 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 54); 56 from receipt
67%decided within eight weeks (UK 66%), 90% within thirteen
94%approved (UK 90%): 1,504 approved, 103 refused, 43 withdrawn
197 of 388UK rank for speed, up 1 place on last year; 131 of 388 for approvals
056 October 2025: 51 days, 116 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 63 days, 22 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 43 days, 78 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 54 days, 129 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 56 days, 144 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 54 days, 187 decisionsMarApril 2026: 54 days, 178 decisionsAprMay 2026: 59 days, 182 decisionsMayJune 2026: 56 days, 187 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 54 days, 213 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 56 days, 177 decisionsAugSeptember 2026: 61 days, 188 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
Householder applications5477%96%38966 of 200
Tree works4962%96%358257 of 324
Full applications5846%91%214185 of 359
Discharge of conditions5258%100%200148 of 310
Prior approvals2892%92%15994 of 340
Amendments5171%90%134223 of 356
Lawful development certificates5578%85%122241 of 348
Listed building consent5750%89%48130 of 307
Advertisement consent *5480%95%20129 of 320
Outline applications *7536%57%1463 of 110

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officersover 99%5494%1,647
Planning committeeunder 1%13067%6

Where the register states how the decision was made. 34 decisions did not say.

Appeals

69 appeals against North Somerset decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 67 for every 100 refusals; 28% were allowed. Every appeal in North Somerset.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *6624%93%45
2017 *3571%86%29
2018 *7137%98%54
2019 *5849%89%35
2020 *11326%99%240
2021 *5843%100%37
2022 *7733%96%30
2023 *6044%91%33
2024 *6243%98%222
2025 *6532%79%31
2026 so far5655%94%1,585

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

Past their target date now

Decided in the last three weeks

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

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.