According to the latest figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government on planning applications in England from January to March, district-level planning authorities received 90,700 applications for planning permission, which is up 6% on the same period last year.
Around 70,900 applications for planning permission have been decided, a drop of 10% on last year.
The report stated that around 61,500 decisions have been granted, which is a fall of 9% from the same quarter last year.
This is equal to around 87% of decisions, an increase of two percentage points from Q1 2024.
Approximately 90% of major applications were decided within 13 weeks or the agreed time, which is in line with the same period last year.
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The district-level planning authorities granted around 7,000 residential applications, a decrease of 11% on the same quarter last year, and around 1,500 applications for commercial developments were granted, a decrease of 11% from the same quarter last year.
The report added that 36,200 householder development applications were decided, a fall of 9% year-on-year. These made up 51% of all decisions, in line with last year.
In the year to March 2025, district-level planning authorities granted 265,800 decisions, a decrease of 7% on the same period the year before, and 29,300 were residential applications. The latter is 8% down on the year to March 2024.
‘Planning remains the biggest obstacle’
Neil Leitch, managing director of development finance at Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB), said: “A drop in planning approvals confirms what many developers have been seeing in practice. It supports recent Home Builders Federation data pointing to a 13-year low in approval levels and highlights the ongoing pressures within the UK’s planning system.
“Planning remains the biggest obstacle. Developers face delays, inconsistent feedback and limited engagement from under-resourced planning teams. The system is not failing through lack of intent. It is failing through lack of capacity.”
He continued: “We talk a lot about reform, but what developers need is delivery. That means local authorities equipped with the people, skills and systems to make timely, consistent decisions. Until then, even the best policy will struggle to translate into real-world impact.
“We know what the issues are. This is not about political direction. It is about giving the system the resources to function. Without that, housing output will continue to fall short of what is needed.”
Planning reform was a key element of Labour’s manifesto, and the government introduced the Planning and Infrastructure Bill earlier this year.
Figures from the Spring Statement suggested the planning reforms could help grow the economy by nearly £7bn by 2030.
