New data from Searchland reveals the best and worst local planning authorities for development approvals in 2024.
It’s latest research, which tracks planning approval rates for multi-dwelling applications across local authorities, highlights the regions where developers are more likely to receive the green light – and where they face the biggest hurdles.
Topping the rankings, Boston’s local planning authority approved 100% of all planning applications in 2024, making it the only authority in the country to do so.
And Boston also recorded the most significant year-on-year improvement, with approval rates increasing by 38.7 percentage points compared to 2023.
TOP PERFORMING LOCAL AUTHORITIES
Beyond Boston, several other local planning authorities demonstrated high approval rates in 2024.
- Gosport and Tamworth – 92% approval rate
- Preston and Wandsworth – 88.7%
- Shetland Islands – 87.7%
- Fareham – 87.6%
- Blackburn with Darwen – 87.3%
- South Tyneside – 86.8%
- Barrow-in-Furness – 68.8%
BIGGEST YEAR-ON-YEAR IMPROVEMENTS
As well as Boston, several other local authorities saw significant increases in planning approval rates over the past year.
- Redditch (+26 percentage points)
- Islington (+24.1 percentage points)
- Gosport (+23.7 percentage points)
- Torfaen (+23.5 percentage points)
- Broxbourne (+23 percentage points)
- Newport (+19 percentage points)
- Rushcliffe (+18.5 percentage points)
- Oadby and Wigston (+17.7 percentage points)
- Barrow-in-Furness (+17.5 percentage points)
TOUGHEST PLACES FOR DEVELOPERS
At the other end of the spectrum, Newham recorded the lowest planning approval rate in 2024, with just 30.3% of applications receiving approval.
Other local authorities with particularly low success rates include:
- Havering – 33.5%
- West Northamptonshire – 34.4%
- Crawley – 36.6%
- Harrow and Bedfordshire – 37.3%
- Industry Perspective
PROTRACTED PROCESS
Hugh Gibbs, Co-founder of Searchland, says: “Our recent research highlighted how protracted the planning decision process is across many local planning authorities and how the time it takes to arrive at a decision has increased substantially in many cases.
But it’s not just the decision process that can cause delays for developers looking to bring new homes to market—failing to secure the green light can also push them back to square one.”
“It’s a bit of a lottery in this respect, with some local planning authorities approving the vast majority of applications, whilst some don’t even approve a third. This figure not only fluctuates depending on location but also on a year-to-year basis.”
