Planning performance statistics: first quarter, 2016-2017

5. Legal Agreements

The timescales for applications with legal agreements are dependent on the nature of the application, the particular complexities involved and the willingness of both the applicant and the planning authority to progress the matter at pace

5.1 Local developments with Legal Agreements

In quarter one of 2016/17 there were 110 applications for local developments where planning authorities had planning/legal agreements in place. The average time taken to make decisions on these applications was 27.9 weeks, almost sixteen weeks quicker than the previous quarter (43.6 weeks) and the quickest average decision time since the start of this data collection in quarter one of 2012/13. ( Quarter 1, 2016/17 - Table 3)

Chart 31: Local developments with Legal Agreements: Number of decisions

Chart 32: Local developments with Legal Agreements: Average decision time (weeks)

5.2 Major developments with Legal Agreements

In quarter one of 2016/17 there were 24 applications for major developments where planning authorities had planning/legal agreements in place. The average time taken to make decisions on these applications was 59.3 weeks, slower by almost 28 weeks compared to the previous quarter (31.5 weeks). Equivalent quarter one figures are 47.3 weeks for 2015/16, 45.4 weeks for 2014/15, 71.6 weeks for 2013/14 and 56.0 weeks for 2012/13. Some of the increase in average decision time this quarter can be explained by four applications that took over two years to be granted. The lengthiest application was for a residential development on a 4.5 hectare site with associated car parking and access. ( Quarter 1, 2016/17 - Table 2)

Chart 33: Major developments with Legal Agreements: Number of decisions

Chart 34: Major developments with Legal Agreements: Average decision time (weeks)

The timescales involved in concluding legal agreements prior to issue of planning permission will have had a significant influence over the average decision time for major applications noted above.