The UK’s housing crisis has been a major issue for years, with a shortage of affordable homes leading to skyrocketing prices and a shortage of rental options. Unfortunately, it seems that the situation is only getting worse, as a new study from Searchland has revealed that residential planning applications have dropped to their lowest annual total in a decade.
According to the report, only 60,986 applications for residential planning were approved, rejected or awaiting a decision in 2022. This marks a significant 5% annual decline from the 64,419 applications seen in the previous year, making it the fifth consecutive annual decline.
The news is even more concerning when you consider that this is the lowest annual total seen since 2012. The study also found that the proportion of applications that were approved versus those that were rejected hit its lowest total since the financial crisis in 2008.
Out of the 45,182 residential planning applications seen in 2022 that were either approved or declined, a staggering 73% were approved, while only 27% were rejected. While this is still a relatively high approval rate, it is lower than the 75% seen in the previous three years and is the lowest success rate since 2008.
Mitchell Fasanya, co-founder and CEO of Searchland, expressed concern over the findings and said: “It will be interesting to see how this trend materialises over the coming year, but the housing crisis is going nowhere and we need to encourage more homes to be built, not less, which starts with planning approval.”
The shortage of affordable housing in the UK is a serious issue that affects many people. It’s clear that something needs to be done to increase the number of homes being built, and this starts with planning approval. Hopefully, the government and local councils will take note of these concerning findings and take action to address the problem.