The Northern Ireland Planning Statistics: Second Quarter 2025/26 Statistical Bulletin, published

Date published: 18 December 2025

Provisional planning statistics for the second quarter of 2025/26 are now available. These data provide an overall view of planning activity. Alongside this there is a summary of council performance across the three statutory targets, for major development applications, local development applications and enforcement as laid out in the Local Government (Performance Indicators and Standards) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015, along with other statistics of interest such as application approval rates.

The publication is available on the Department for Infrastructure website.

Key Points:

• There were 2,360 planning applications received in Northern Ireland (NI) during the second quarter of 2025/26; a decrease of nearly two percent from the previous quarter and similar to the number received during the same period a year earlier. This comprised of 2,336 local, 23 major and one regionally significant planning application.
• In the second quarter of 2025/26, 1,953 planning applications were decided, a decrease of fourteen percent from the previous quarter and down by fifteen percent from the same period a year earlier. Decisions were issued on 1,928 local and 25 major applications during the most recent quarter.
• The average processing time for local applications brought to a decision or withdrawal during the first six months of 2025/26 was 19.4 weeks across all councils. This exceeds the 15 week target and represents an increase from the average processing time reported for the same period a year earlier (18.8 weeks). Three of the 11 councils were within the 15 week target after the first six months of 2025/26.
• The average processing time for major applications brought to a decision or withdrawal during the first six months of 2025/26 was 34.0 weeks across all councils. This exceeds the 30 week target but represents a decrease of nearly seven weeks from the average processing time reported for the same period a year earlier (40.9 weeks).
• Across councils 75.1% of enforcement cases were concluded within 39 weeks during the first six months of 2025/26, meeting the 70% target. This represents an increase from the rate recorded for the same period in 2024/25 (68.4%). Individually, six of the 11 councils were meeting the 70% target after the first six months of 2025/26.