Residential planning applications plummeted to their lowest in a decade last year, according to data from Searchland.  

The land development research firm adds that the proportion of successful applications, against those that were rejected by local authorities was at its lowest since 2008.   

It estimates that 60,986 residential planning applications were either approved, rejected, or are still awaiting a decision in 2022.  

This is the lowest annual total since 2012, which saw 59,013 applications handled, and is also a 5% annual fall on 2021, which processed 64,419 development applications.  

The fall last year was the fifth consecutive annual decline, with applications having fallen every year since 2018, the firm’s analysis of official data shows.  

It says that of the 45,182 residential planning applications in 2022 that were either approved or declined, 32,956 were approved, while 12,226 were rejected.   

This means that planning approvals accounted for 73% of total applications, against 27% that failed.   

This success rate is down from 75% over the previous three years and was also the lowest approval rate since 2008, when at the height of the financial crisis, just 68% of all applications were passed.  

Searchland co-founder and chief executive Mitchell Fasanya says: “Despite the residential property market benefitting from a pandemic-inspired boom, the number of planning applications made has been in steady decline in recent years.   

“This is down to a number of factors, including the higher cost of materials and labour shortages that will have impacted developer abilities to execute efficiently.   

“Not to mention the market uncertainty that has developed following a string of interest rate hikes, which will have seen many developers tread with greater caution in anticipation of a reduction in market values.   

“While less significant, the recent Help to Buy deadline [which ended on 31 March] is also sure to have had an influence, with many developers pausing to re-evaluate where, what, and to whom, to target their efforts.  

“Although the market has stood firm so far, it will be interesting to see how this trend materialises over the coming year but one thing is for certain — the housing crisis is going nowhere and we need to encourage more homes to be built, not less, which starts with planning approval.”