Planning approval for major projects in Bristol, Greater Manchester and London is taking 32 weeks to come through, well above the 13-week timeframe that the government is targeting, a report by the British Property Federation and property consultancy GL Hearn showed.
A key factor in the delays is that more than half of the country’s planning authorities do not have sufficient resources, and there are fears that the situation could worsen if councils are faced with further spending cuts.
Around two-thirds of developers said they would be willing to pay higher fees if this meant that waiting times were reduced.
