Planning Performance Statistics 2020/21: Annual
Summary statistics on planning application decision-making timescales for 2020/21 with historic data going back to 2012/13. It is based on data collected by the Scottish Government from Local and Planning Authorities as part of the Planning Performance Framework (introduced in 2012).
5. Applications by Development Type
5.1. Local Developments
In 2020/21 a Total of 21,897 local applications not subject to processing agreements had an average decision time of 10.0 weeks. An additional 2,551 applications were subject to processing agreements. The number of decisions and average decision times vary between types of development (Table 1).
More than half (55.5%) of all local applications were from householders, and these had the shortest average decision time (8.1 weeks). Mineral applications (0.1% of all local decisions) had the longest average decision time (22.0 weeks).
5.2. Major Developments
The average decision time for 171 major applications not subject to processing agreements in 2020/21 was 41.3 weeks. In addition, there were 101 major developments decided that had processing agreements in place. The number of decisions and average decision times vary between types of development (Table 2).
The shortest average decision time of 22.4 weeks was for business and industry developments (9% of all major developments), the longest average decision time was for housing applications (54.8 weeks, 45% of all major developments).
| Post-3rd August Local Developments | 2020/21 | 2019/20 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 | 2016/17 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of decisions | Average decision time (weeks) | Number of decisions | Average decision time (weeks) | Number of decisions | Average decision time (weeks) | Number of decisions | Average decision time (weeks) | Number of decisions | Average decision time (weeks) | |
| Householder | 12,159 | 8.1 | 12,436 | 7.3 | 12,482 | 7.2 | 12,861 | 7.3 | 13,400 | 7.3 |
| Other Developments | 4,454 | 11.2 | 6,016 | 9.8 | 5,859 | 9.6 | 5,981 | 9.9 | 5,919 | 10.0 |
| Housing | 3,476 | 14.2 | 4,123 | 12.4 | 4,648 | 12.3 | 4,768 | 12.2 | 4,899 | 12.7 |
| Business & Industry | 1,239 | 10.6 | 1,275 | 10.0 | 1,478 | 9.1 | 1,609 | 9.5 | 1,738 | 9.3 |
| Telecommunications | 148 | 10.5 | 261 | 10.2 | 230 | 8.8 | 504 | 8.7 | 457 | 8.1 |
| AMSCs | 239 | 16.6 | 310 | 16.1 | 289 | 13.8 | 284 | 13.9 | 294 | 14.5 |
| Electricity Generation | 108 | 16.2 | 94 | 11.0 | 180 | 14.5 | 123 | 13.3 | 178 | 19.2 |
| Fish Farming | 42 | 14.6 | 37 | 16.0 | 33 | 15.2 | 56 | 9.3 | 44 | 8.5 |
| Minerals | 18 | 22.0 | 36 | 20.5 | 26 | 17.4 | 17 | 27.1 | 28 | 19.9 |
| Waste Management | 14 | 14.9 | 16 | 14.4 | 20 | 9.4 | 17 | 16.6 | 29 | 11.6 |
| Total | 21,897 | 10.0 | 24,604 | 9.1 | 25,245 | 9.0 | 26,220 | 9.0 | 26,986 | 9.2 |
1. Figures do not include applications subject to processing agreements.
2. The analysis in Sections 2 to 5 covers applications validated in the current planning system, post 3rd August 2009. Legacy cases validated before 3rd August 2009 are not included in the figures but are reported separately in Section 11. Figures for all applications including legacy cases were reported up to and including 2016/17 and are available in previous publications.
3. Figures for 2012/13 to 2015/16 are available in previous publications.
| Post-3rd August Major Developments | 2020/21 | 2019/20 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 | 2016/17 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of decisions | Average decision time (weeks) | Number of decisions | Average decision time (weeks) | Number of decisions | Average decision time (weeks) | Number of decisions | Average decision time (weeks) | Number of decisions | Average decision time (weeks) | |
| Housing | 77 | 54.8 | 116 | 37.5 | 98 | 35.1 | 116 | 38.2 | 108 | 43.4 |
| Other Developments | 53 | 29.7 | 53 | 27.3 | 64 | 31.1 | 83 | 30.6 | 94 | 30.4 |
| Business & Industry | 15 | 22.4 | 13 | 22.8 | 21 | 24.6 | 17 | 25.5 | 26 | 33.2 |
| Electricity Generation | 13 | 29.3 | 12 | 29.1 | 9 | 25.6 | 9 | 36.5 | 10 | 32.6 |
| Minerals | 7 | 47.5 | 8 | 44.0 | 10 | 41.9 | 8 | 23.9 | 5 | 30.0 |
| Waste Management | 6 | 35.8 | 1 | 16.6 | 3 | 27.4 | 5 | 14.0 | 3 | 18.6 |
| Fish Farming | 0 | - | 1 | 25.9 | 1 | 36.9 | 0 | - | 0 | - |
| Total | 171 | 41.3 | 204 | 33.5 | 206 | 32.6 | 238 | 33.6 | 246 | 36.4 |
1. Figures do not include applications subject to processing agreements.
2. The analysis in Sections 2 to 5 covers applications validated in the current planning system, post 3rd August 2009. Legacy cases validated before 3rd August 2009 are not included in the figures but are reported separately in Section 11. Figures for all applications including legacy cases were reported up to and including 2016/17 and are available in previous publications.
3. Figures for 2012/13 to 2015/16 are available in previous publications.
Contact
Email: planning_stats@gov.scot
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