More than a quarter of major UK residential projects are still not granted planning permission within 13 weeks or the agreed timeframe, while 12% are not decided within a year of application, according to figures form the Office for National Statistics.
This is despite the overall number of major schemes that are delayed in planning dropping slowly over the past four years, from more than 40% in 2011 to 22% in June 2015.
Ipswich is the slowest authority in the UK when it comes to the promptness of decisions, deciding just 18% of schemes of 10 homes or more within 13 weeks. But the ONS data reveals a huge variation in decision-making times across UK local authorities.
Some 12% of the country’s 327 local authorities delivered 100% of their major decisions on time, but 16% of councils did not manage to break the 50% mark.
However, according to Ryan Johnson, head of residential at planning consultancy Turley, faster decision-making could lead to more front-loading of the pre-application process, which itself would increase the lead-in time for applications.
“While a sense of urgency is not a bad thing in the present climate, it is the end result that matters,” he said.
“Delivering homes that meet identified needs, in the right form, price and locations to foster sustainable places to live, is arguably a more important measure of success.”
