Homeowners in Belfast wait 15.3 weeks for planning permission, over Northern Ireland’s 15-week target
A ready-to-publish local data pack on planning decision times in Belfast. Everything on this page is free to use with attribution to PlanningLens.
Figures from the 9 July 2026 data export·
15.3 wks
Average decision time, 2025
3rd
slowest of 4 NI councils
+0.3 wks
against the 15-week target
108
Decisions analysed
Ready-to-run copy
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Local figures
Householder planning applications in Belfast took an average of 15.3 weeks to decide in 2025, according to analysis of council planning records by the planning data firm PlanningLens. That is 0.3 weeks over Northern Ireland’s statutory 15-week target for local applications, and the third slowest of the four Northern Ireland councils with enough 2025 decisions to compare. The figures cover 108 decided applications.
National context
Northern Ireland sets its own statutory target of 15 weeks for local planning applications, against eight weeks in England and Wales, and the Department for Infrastructure’s own annual statistics show most councils miss it. PlanningLens measures the calendar directly: validation date to decision date, per application, from each council’s planning portal. The full UK analysis, including a section on Northern Ireland’s separate regime, is free at planninglens.co.uk/how-long-does-planning-permission-take.html#northern-ireland.
Quote
“Northern Ireland sets itself a 15-week target, and the measured answer in Belfast is 15.3 weeks. None of this is hidden: it sits in the council’s own planning portal, application by application. We have simply added it up,” said Mark Broome, founder of PlanningLens.
May be used as supplied.
Decision times by project type
Application type
Average
Decisions
Single-storey extensions
13.8 wks
73
Householder application types with at least 50 decided applications in 2025. Averages are validation date to decision date.
Notes for editors
How these figures are produced
PlanningLens measures validation date to decision date, per application, from each council’s own planning portal. Named local figures cover householder applications (extensions, lofts and similar) decided in 2025; councils are ranked only where at least 50 such decisions were available. Northern Ireland’s statutory target for local applications is 15 weeks under the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2015; figures here are compared against that target, not the eight-week period used in England and Wales. National context figures cover all application types. Full method: planninglens.co.uk/how-long-does-planning-permission-take.html#method.
Using this pack
Everything on this page is free to publish with attribution to PlanningLens and a link to the full analysis. Text and data are licensed CC BY 4.0. The quote from Mark Broome may be used as supplied.
Interviews, custom data cuts or checks: hello@planninglens.co.uk. Figures from the 9 July 2026 data export; the live analysis regenerates with every data update.
Homeowners in Belfast wait 15.3 weeks for planning permission, over Northern Ireland’s 15-week target
Householder planning applications in Belfast took an average of 15.3 weeks to decide in 2025, according to analysis of council planning records by the planning data firm PlanningLens. That is 0.3 weeks over Northern Ireland’s statutory 15-week target for local applications, and the third slowest of the four Northern Ireland councils with enough 2025 decisions to compare. The figures cover 108 decided applications.
Northern Ireland sets its own statutory target of 15 weeks for local planning applications, against eight weeks in England and Wales, and the Department for Infrastructure’s own annual statistics show most councils miss it. PlanningLens measures the calendar directly: validation date to decision date, per application, from each council’s planning portal. The full UK analysis, including a section on Northern Ireland’s separate regime, is free at planninglens.co.uk/how-long-does-planning-permission-take.html#northern-ireland.
“Northern Ireland sets itself a 15-week target, and the measured answer in Belfast is 15.3 weeks. None of this is hidden: it sits in the council’s own planning portal, application by application. We have simply added it up,” said Mark Broome, founder of PlanningLens.