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Planning permissions must increase 40% to meet government’s housebuilding target, research says
Planning permissions must rise by 40% if the government is to meet its target of building 300,000 homes by the mid-2020s, a report has said.
Research produced by planning consultancy Lichfields and commissioned by the Land Promoters and Developers Federation (LPDF) and the Home Builders Federation (HBF) hit back at claims that developers are slow to complete schemes after receiving permission, also known as land banking.
The LPDF and HBF slammed previous research by the Local Government Association (LGA) which showed there are currently 1.1 million homes with planning permission waiting to be built in England.
The groups which commissioned the research argued that permissions are often granted on sites that will not be built out for one or two years while they await infrastructure funding, which can only be received once permissions are granted.
The report said to reach the 300,000-home target, “the number of homes with planning permission will need to exceed the size of the pipeline, because some permissions will be delayed, replanned or lapse, and some will deliver homes beyond a five-year horizon”.
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Permissions would need to rise from the 372,000 recorded by the government in 2019 to 520,000 today, the research said. But the LPDF and HBF said the most recent data showed that permissions have halted and may have begun to decline since 2018.
The research follows Whitehall’s major planning shake-up announced last year, which proposed a new formula for calculating housing need. The government has since vowed to update this formula following a backlash from Conservative MPs.
Paul Brocklehurst, chair of the LPDF, said: “This research highlights what we in the industry have realised for some time now, which is that the level of planning consents is not sufficient, especially in certain areas of England, to meet the demand for new homes.”
Het said the LGA’s analysis was “overly simplistic and ignorant” of the practicalities of the process of implementing planning consents.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “This government is clear that new homes should be built out as soon as possible once planning permission is granted.
“Where sites are experiencing delays, it is for councils and developers to work closely together to overcome these barriers. We will be exploring further options to support faster build out as part of our proposed planning reforms.”
The LGA has been contacted for response.
