The fourth annual property survey conducted by the British Property Federation (BPF) and property consultant GL Hearn has revealed increased determination times, dissatisfaction and an increasingly strained planning system.
According to the report, 50% of local planning authorities (LPAs) believe that the planning environment has got worse, or much worse, since 2010. It states that the planning system is struggling to cope with a recovering economy and high demand from buyers and occupiers. Although actual numbers of major planning applications determined have fallen, submission to determination times have continued to lengthen, leading to applicants growing increasingly dissatisfied with the planning process.
Overall, the average submission to determination time for housing schemes over 10 dwellings across the surveyed areas of Greater London, Greater Manchester and Bristol has risen by over 10% compared to last year, from 28 weeks to 32 weeks. In total, determination times have increased at 21 out of 33 LPAs in Greater London.
The survey reports that lengthening determination times have led to increased dissatisfaction with planning system. Three quarters of applicants are now dissatisfied with planning application times, an increase from 71% last year.
Challenges to achieving LPA aims (LPAs only)
Such is the dissatisfaction that 65% of applicants said they would be happy to pay a more if this could guarantee shorter determination times. The report envisages that increasing the fee could take two forms – a compulsory fee increase across the board, or the ability for applicants to select a “higher fee express service”.
The planning system is now seen as a barrier to increasing the rate of housing delivery by 69% of applicants, a marked increase from 2014 when 52% saw planning as a major barrier. Shortage of land remains an issue with 44% of applicants stating this as a major barrier, along with a high requirement for affordable housing (41%) and the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) (38%).
The results suggest that a recovering economy is freeing up funds for development and seeing more demand for housing. Securing funds is now only a major barrier for one in five applicants (19% down from 25% in 2014) and a lack of demand from home buyers with adequate funds now significantly affects less than one in 10 (9% down from 18% in 2014).
Major barriers to increasing rate of housing delivery
According to the survey, under-resourcing in the planning system now appears to be a significant issue. Over half of LPAs (55%) think that under-resourcing of their departments will present a significant challenge to achieving their aims over the next year. This is something that the report warns could become more of an issue over the next year as more reductions may be made in funding.
One policy that has been well received since its introduction is the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which a large majority (70%) of applicants and LPAs believe has led to an increase in development activity, and 98% of those surveyed are in favour of keeping this policy.
However, the extra complexity of the Neighbourhood Plan and the CIL are perceived in a negative light with 34% of those surveyed wanting to abandon the CIL completely and 34% wanting to abandon the Neighbourhood Plan.
Melanie Leech, chief executive at the British Property Federation, commented: “This report shows quite clearly that local authority planning departments are struggling to cope as a result of the efforts to find savings across the public sector, and that this is having a negative impact on local authorities’ ability to deliver a timely and efficient service.
Is the planning environment better or worse than it was in 2010?
“The fact of the matter is that an effective planning system is crucial to enabling regeneration and development, and if government wants to meet the housing challenge and develop the commercial buildings that support our economy, it is going to need to take action.
“The report shows that there is potentially scope for the private sector to plug this gap, and we urge the government to begin a dialogue with the property industry to see how this might be taken forward.”
The report comes as David Cameron officially launches his Housing Bill that states councils must produce plans to speed up the provision of housing by 2017 or risk losing control of their planning process (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-councils-must-deliver-local-plans-for-new-homes-by-2017). The government also confirmed its commitment to deliver 200,000 starter homes and offer 1.3 million tenants the Right to Buy.
In a statement made to announce the bill, Greg Clark, secretary of state for communities and local government, said: “During the last five years we’ve brought house building back from the brink, from its lowest levels since the 1920s, by reforming the planning system so we now have over 240,000 homes receiving permission.”
