A survey by the British Property Federation (BPF) and GL Hearn has revealed that 65% of planning officers concerned that the system is getting worse, but also highlighted that the Northern Powerhouse decided 22% more major applications per resident than Greater London area.
GL Hearn writes:
The fifth annual planning survey, published today by the British Property Federation and GL Hearn, has found that the Northern Powerhouse is delivering more planning decisions per capita than Greater London.
For the first time, the research examined major application decisions across 25 boroughs in the Northern Powerhouse, showing that they made 11 major planning application decisions per 100,000 residents, compared to nine decisions per 100,000 residents in Greater London.
The largest ever independent assessment of the planning system has also shown that despite a lack of resources at some LPAs, the planning system has broadly stabilised after some years of flux. Average decision making times remained stable at 31 weeks, overall approval ratings for major applications held steady at approximately 87% and there was a slight dip in the overall volume of major applications decided.
Despite this, the survey showed that overall sentiment in the industry is the worst it has ever been, with more planning officers (65%) and developers (36%) than ever concerned that the system is getting worse. 80% of applicants were dissatisfied with the time it takes for decisions to be made on planning applications, the highest figure since the survey began in 2012.
The data has also shown that many in the industry are hopeful that a number of proposed policy solutions could reduce application decision times and help alleviate resourcing issues at LPAs.
- 56% of applicants and 44% of LPA officers believe that ‘planning performance reviews’ would improve decision making times and reduce resourcing pressures at LPAs.
- Some policies were more divisive; 66% of applicants and only 19% of LPA officers believe ‘permission in principle’ would improve decision making times and reduce resourcing pressures at LPAs.
- Conversely, 53% of LPA officers supported changes to planning application fees but only 31% of applicants thought they would make a difference.
Although each side of the industry may have different preferences, it is clear that there is significant support for a range of policies to improve the system; such as the introduction of a brownfield register; changes to planning application fees; the use of ‘permission in principle’ and – more than any other policy – planning performance reviews.
The fifth annual planning survey has been published by the British Property Federation and GL Hearn. It combines data on major planning application decisions from 74 local planning authorities and survey data from 385 developers and local authority planning officers across the country.
For the first time, the study examined data from the Scottish planning system. This data will be published on 25th October 2016.
View the press release and download the survey
