Local councils have been forced to pay out a total of £12m after losing planning appeals since 2010, new figures show.
Cornwall Council paid the highest at £981,332 through six lost appeals – an average cost of £163,555 per loss.
The data, taken from a Freedom of Information request by property consultancy Daniel Watney, found that 178 of the 217 councils that responded had to pay out large sums.
Charles Mills, partner and head of planning at Daniel Watney, said the figures would have been higher if the appeals process was easier.
He said that owing to budget cuts, appeal inspectors are interested only in extreme cases, and they would have to prove that the council acted unreasonably, which does not have a specific test.
“It is an onerous task to demonstrate that a local authority has been unreasonable during the process,” he said.
An investigation by Estates Gazette last month (29 October, p44) found that developers faced a planning lottery when submitting applications, with large differences in resourcing and productivity among councils.
Amounts councils have paid out after losing planning appeals, 2010-2016 |
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Council | Highest total paid, 2010-16 (£) | Council | Highest average paid, 2010-16 (£) |
Cornwall | 981,332 | Halton | 360,735 |
Derby City | 866,975 | Derby City | 177,395 |
Halton | 721,470 | Cornwall | 163,555 |
Stratford-upon-Avon | 557,819 | Rugby Borough | 110,000 |
South Gloucestershire | 505,544 | London Borough of Wandsworth | 74,807 |
Basingstoke and Deane | 468,695 | Ryedale District | 74,750 |
Horsham District | 442,969 | Horsham District | 63,281 |
Cambridge City | 311,175 | South Gloucestershire | 56,172 |
Solihull | 306,563 | Stratford-on-Avon | 50,711 |
Cheshire | 260,198 | Oxfordshire | 48,609 |
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