How long does planning permission take in Northern Ireland?

There are two answers: the official one and the real one. The statutory target for processing a local planning application in Northern Ireland is 15 weeks. The Department for Infrastructure’s own published statistics, however, put the actual average at roughly 19 to 20 weeks across the 11 councils in 2024/25 into 2025/26, and only three councils processed local applications inside the target. If your project timeline assumes the official number, your project timeline is optimistic.

The fee side is simpler: a householder application, an extension, improvement or alteration to an existing house, costs £347 under the fees in force from 1 April 2025, and NI planning fees usually rise each April. Once granted, permission is valid for five years under the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011, so an early application costs you nothing in flexibility.

Two ways people lose time: submitting incomplete applications (missing drawings or certificates trigger a restart of the clock in practice), and not talking to neighbours first, objections are the single most common cause of delay on householder applications. A pre-application conversation with your council’s planning office is free and often saves weeks.

And remember planning permission and Building Regulations approval are separate processes: many projects need both, some need only Building Control, and the sequencing matters for your start date. Our planning guide walks through which applies to which project.