Planning decisions in North Somerset

How long North Somerset takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 1,081 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.

54 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 55 from receipt
69%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 92% within thirteen
93%approved (UK 89%): 867 approved, 69 refused, 25 withdrawn
209 of 321UK rank for speed, down 11 places on last year; 135 of 321 for approvals
056 September 2025: 35 days, 26 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 51 days, 116 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 55 days, 187 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 56 days, 189 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 3 days, 1 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 30 days, 35 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 49 days, 149 decisionsMarApril 2026: 54 days, 169 decisionsAprMay 2026: 60 days, 180 decisionsMayJune 2026: 56 days, 177 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 56 days, 195 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 57 days, 175 decisionsAug
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

KindMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisionsUK rank
Full applications (including householder)5472%93%37693 of 302
Tree works4865%95%230211 of 259
Discharge of conditions5162%100%127108 of 175
Prior approvals *5750%56%98165 of 168
Amendments4572%91%87189 of 263
Lawful development certificates5486%83%82172 of 253
Listed building consent5559%90%3278 of 200

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officersover 99%5493%1,055
Planning committeeunder 1%112100%2

Where the register states how the decision was made. 24 decisions did not say.

Appeals

74 appeals against North Somerset decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 107 for every 100 refusals; 27% 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 far5556%93%1,081

* 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 321 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.