Planning decisions in Northumberland County

How long Northumberland County takes to decide a planning application and how many it approves, from the 2,141 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.

48 daysmedian from validation to decision (UK 52); 49 from receipt
80%decided within eight weeks (UK 73%), 94% within thirteen
88%approved (UK 89%): 1,674 approved, 239 refused, 103 withdrawn
73 of 321UK rank for speed; 222 of 321 for approvals
05691 September 2025: 147 days, 2 decisionsSeptOctober 2025: 154 days, 2 decisionsOctNovember 2025: 146 days, 4 decisionsNovDecember 2025: 144 days, 4 decisionsDecJanuary 2026: 10 days, 46 decisionsJanFebruary 2026: 27 days, 151 decisionsFebMarch 2026: 46 days, 304 decisionsMarApril 2026: 52 days, 339 decisionsAprMay 2026: 51 days, 340 decisionsMayJune 2026: 52 days, 336 decisionsJunJuly 2026: 52 days, 353 decisionsJulAugust 2026: 53 days, 272 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)5662%89%632195 of 302
Discharge of conditions3693%74%42223 of 175
Tree works3597%97%21796 of 259
Amendments3675%93%166140 of 263
Prior approvals5284%77%145142 of 168
Listed building consent5569%94%12370 of 200
Lawful development certificates5091%82%79108 of 253
Advertisement consent5662%81%26150 of 190

Delegated or committee

RouteShareMedian daysApprovedDecisions
Delegated to officersover 99%4787%2,074
Planning committeeunder 1%69100%1

Where the register states how the decision was made. 66 decisions did not say.

Appeals

82 appeals against Northumberland County decisions were decided by the Planning Inspectorate in the window, 34 for every 100 refusals; 22% were allowed. Every appeal in Northumberland County.

By year

Year decidedMedian daysWithin 8 weeksApprovedDecisions
2016 *5662%97%98
2017 *5651%94%135
2018 *6627%82%79
2019 *3769%96%212
2020 *3483%93%122
2021 *6841%88%254
2022 *7411%92%75
2023 *9210%90%174
2024 *5950%93%31
2026 so far4972%88%2,141

* 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 Northumberland County's planning register. Ranks are among the 321 published councils. See planning applications in Northumberland County, appeals, or get alerts for Northumberland County.

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.