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Planning figures show dip in approvals
A dip has been recorded in the volume of housing schemes approved by local planning authorities.
Data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government today showed that 11,900 residential applications were granted consent by district-level bodies in the first three months of this year.
This was down 4% from the same period the previous year.
The figures also revealed that a total of 16,100 decisions were made on housebuilding proposals in the first quarter of 2018. This was 4% lower than the same period a year earlier.
Both major and minor decision volumes were down 4% over the year.
In the 12 months to the end of March 2018, local planning authorities granted 6,500 major and 42,700 minor residential consents, both down by 2% on the prior year.
Across all types of development, district-level bodies received 116,700 applications for planning permission, down 5% from the corresponding quarter of 2017.
They granted consent to 87,900 applications, down 2% over the same timeframe.
Mark Dyason, managing director of property specialist Thistle Finance, said: “There’s an urgency in the market and in the government to build more homes but that’s clearly not feeding through into planning departments.
“Far too many planning departments continue to operate in a vacuum.”
