The firm delved into history data on planning applications over the last 20 years.
It found that in 2022, a total of around 60,986 residential planning applications were made. That is the lowest total since 2012 when 59,013 applications were made, and is down by five per cent on 2021.
That’s the fifth straight year in which applications have dropped.
Of those applications, 45,182 were either approved or declined, with 32,956 given the green light. That works out at around 73 per cent of applications being approved.
That success rate is down from the typical 75 per cent over the previous three years, and is the lowest success rate since 2008 when just 68 per cent of applications were approved.
Why applications are down?
Mitchell Fasanya, co-founder and CEO of Searchland, said that there is a number of reasons behind the “steady decline” in planning applications made over recent years.
These include the higher cost of materials, labour shortages and general market uncertainty which has come about following the recent hikes to the bank base rate and caused developers to “tread with greater caution”.
Fasanya continued: “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.”
