New research has revealed that the number of residential planning applications granted in England has fallen by -8.3% on the year, marking at least four consecutive years of decline, and while the nation tries to confront a desperate housing crisis, it’s grants for major developments that have seen the biggest drop of all.
Monta Capital has analysed residential planning application data for England between 2018 and 2023 to better understand what role planning bureaucracy is playing in the nation’s inability to overcome its housing crisis. The data shows that in the year 2018-19, there were a total of 46,808 residential planning applications granted in England, a figure which includes both minor and major residential developments.
In the following year, 2019-20, this number dropped by -6.6% to a total of 43,701 grants before falling again in 2020-21, this time plummeting by -10.9%. A third consecutive decline was recorded in 2021-22 (-2.7%), followed by a fourth in 2022-23 when total grants fell by -8.3% to settle at 34,785.
To solve the nation’s housing crisis, homes need to be delivered in huge numbers, with the latest political projection suggesting a need for 300,000 new homes a year. To get anywhere close to this target, there is a desperate need for high-volume developments to be granted planning permission.
The analysis by Monta reveals that grants for major residential projects have fallen at a faster rate than any other sort of development. Major residential developments are defined as those consisting of ten or more new dwellings with a combined floorspace of more than 1,000sqm.
Application grants for such developments fell by -11.5% in 2022-23. This is a greater decline than grants for minor developments which themselves fell by -7.8%. Grants for major developments have fallen at a greater rate than those for minor developments* every year since 2018. Thomas Balashev, Chief Executive of Monta Capital, commented:
“It’s hard to rationalise declining planning application grants in a country that so desperately needs new homes to be built in huge numbers and at great pace.
We should be seeing grants increase as the nation fights to provide the required homes. The fact that we’re seeing the opposite suggests to me that government rhetoric and pledges to increase development are little more than hot air and having no real impact on the ground floor.
As we move into election season, we’re going to hear more and more housing pledges accompanied by optimistic, albeit unimaginative plans to address the situation. But what we need is genuine action. We’ve seen nothing but negative planning trends since well before the pandemic, so it’s important that pressure is placed on all parties to follow through on their promises should they take, or retain, power.”
