Planning applications continued to fall in the second quarter of this year, decreasing by 17% compared to the same period in 2021.
Figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities show that 106,800 applications for panning permission were received between April and June 2022.
During the second quarter, the department granted 87,600 decisions, a 12% reduction from last year. This means 88% of applications were approved, a figure that was down by one percentage point year-on-year.
In total 85% of major applications were decided on within 13 weeks of the agreed time. This too was down on the comparable period last year, by one percentage point.
In total, the department granted 8,700 residential applications, down 9% year on year. This included 1,000 major developments and 7,700 minor developments.
In addition, it granted 1,800 applications for commercial developments, down by 5% compared to 2021 figures.
Meanwhile, 58,000 householder development applications were approved, down 16% from the previous year. This accounted for 58% of all decisions, a drop of 62% from the year earlier.
In the year ending June 2022 district-level planning authorities granted 362,000 decisions, this figure was up by 3% when compared to the year before.
This included 37,000 decisions on residential developments, of which 4,600 were for major developments and 32,500 for minor developments. These figures were down by 11% and 5% respectively.
Commenting on the latest figures, Castell Group director of property developers Dorian Payne comments: “The UK planning system is an omnishambles. Obtaining planning permission is more of a ‘submit and cross your fingers’ approach. It’s playing a huge part in the current housing deficit, which is growing by the day.”
“The statutory deadlines mean nothing and the amount of subjectivity that is rife in planning results in applications being delayed or declined for mere difference in opinions rather than policy compliance.”
“One of the biggest issues is that the public sector planning system is severely under-resourced and any decent planning officers can make significantly more money in private practice. We need more houses but the planning system is part of the problem not, as it should be, the solution.”
Meanwhile, Finanze chief economist Edgar Rayo adds: “One solution to the dearth of housing supply in the country is to ease the planning permission process for small to medium enterprise (SME) builders to avoid delays. Since they have limited operating capital unlike large builders, SME developers cannot afford to switch to multiple projects should local authority planners fail to respond to their requests. We need a planning overhaul and we need it quick.”
Last week, the UK government announced it will set out its vision this autumn to “unlock homeownership” for a new generation by building more homes in the places people want to live and work and by getting our housing market moving.
The plans, part of the Treasury’s 2022 growth plan, stated that the government “must accelerate housing delivery”.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced in the mini-budget last week that “a list of infrastructure projects will be prioritised for acceleration” across various sectors.
These included increasing housing supply, enabling forthcoming planning reforms as well as increasing the disposal of surplus government land to build new homes.
While planning permission was granted for more than 310,000 homes last year, up 10% from the year before, the Treasury highlighted last week that “further reform is needed”.
It said that the plans, to be announced in due course, will “boost growth across the UK helping more people afford to live near good jobs”.
