Planning Market Insight Report January 2022

Planning Market Insight Report from the Planning Portal

January 2022 Planning Market Insight Report

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Welcome to our latest Plan Firstly, a very Happy New Year to all our customers and avid readers of this report. Without a doubt we all faced challenges throughout 2021, be that the ever-changing COVID-19 related restrictions, or more broadly. However, in terms of planning application submissions, 2021 was another record-breaking year.

Following the trend at the end of 2020, submission rates soared, with the total number of applications throughout 2021 reaching over 720,000; this is 100,000+ more than the previous year.

Like everyone, Planning Portal faced many challenges through 2021, but we also took opportunities to do things differently and embrace the changes as they came along. As life returned to normality and we were able to host physical events, many of our team made their way to London and beyond to meet many of our submitters and delivery partners in person. We were involved in many events, partnerships, and editorial opportunities and were particularly delighted to sponsor the first annual BPIC Awards* in November, as part of our strategy to support diversity across the planning and construction sector. The Planning Portal Community Hub was launched in the summer, and hosts all of our webinars.

We also used it for our third Annual Conference, which ran successfully again thanks to a strong line-up of speakers, support from sponsors and excellent engagement from delegates. Despite extensive periods of remote working, many of the Planning Portal and TerraQuest team took part in charity fundraising events including sponsored team bike ‘sportive’ up Cheddar Gorge, a companywide Christmas Jumper Day and many personal challenges raising over £15,000 for a variety of worthy charities.

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nning Market Insight Report But after a much-needed festive break, we’re back and very excited for 2022. We are delighted to confirm that we will be launching the new Planning Portal website at the end of this month. This will bring with it new and improved functionality, accessibility and our new, refreshed brand. More importantly for us, it will give us the platform to make improvements and keep up-to-date with policy changes in a much more agile fashion. Once we have gone live with the new system, we will be sharing our development roadmap for the remainder of the year, and more webinars and events hosted on the Community Hub, so please do register for free to follow our progress.

Here’s to a happy, healthy and prosperous 2022 for the planning and construction sector as a whole.

*https://www.bpicnetwork.com/bpicawards

Sarah Chilcott Managing Director – Planning Portal

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Application numbers in England and Wales National graph over six years 80,000

75,000

70,000

6 5,000

6 0,000

55,000

50,000

45,000

40,000

Construction reopened

Lockdown 35,000 2016 30,000

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

2017

May

2018

Jun

2019

Jul

2020

2021

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

The national graph represents the number of online planning application submissions via the Planning Portal each month since the beginning of 2016, with seasonal patterns usually being similar year-on-year.

Lockdown applications were submitted in 2021, that is 17% higher Overall, 723,552 planning than 2020’s total of 617,867. This includes a wide range of consent types for developments of all types and sizes, change of use applications, prior approvals and other consents, for example, works to protected trees and hedgerows.

The second half of 2020 saw a surge in application numbers, largely driven by home improvement projects, and this continued through the first quarter of 2021.

However, from May 2021, there was a gradual slowing back to a more standard pattern of applications. This continued for the remainder of the year.

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Indeed, in the final quarter of the year application volumes were 6% lower than those seen in 2020, but this is a reflection that levels in Q4 2020 were extraordinarily high, rather than a cause for concern. December specifically was 7% lower than 2020, with a total of 49,587 applications being submitted, compared to 53,430 the previous year.

National graph by week

18500

80,000 16500

75,000

70,000 14500

6 5,000

6 0,000 12500

55,000

10500 50,000

45,000 8500

40,000

Lockdown Lockdown 2016

35,000 6500

30,000

2017

Construction reopened Construction 2018 2019 reopened 2019

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

2020

2020

2021

2021

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

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The regional view In line with the decrease in applications throughout December 2021, Wales was the only region to see an increase on December 2020 with a total of 1,820 applications representing an increase of just 1%. Yorkshire and the Humber saw the biggest dip in applications when compared to December 2020 with applications dropping by 11%. The South West, a region with strong performance in relation to submission numbers over the last year, saw the lowest decrease in application submissions in December with a 2% drop compared to December 2020.

For the year as a whole, the picture across the regions showed only small variations against the overall increase of 17% between 2020 and 2021. Of the nine English regions and Wales, seven saw increases between 16-19%. The smallest increase year-on-year actually came in London, one the biggest regions in terms of numbers of applications submitted. Here, 13% more applications were submitted in 2021 as compared to 2020. The North East received the lowest number of applications of all the regions, but its volume grew the most, increasing by 22% between 2020 and 2021.

Regional percentage change

12000

10000

8000

6000

4000

2000

0

East Midlands

East of England

London

North East

North West Dec-20

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South East Dec-21

South West

Wales

West Midlands

Yorkshire and The Humber

Percentage change in applications

-11% N o r t h E a s t

North West

-14 1%% Yorkshire and -14% t h e H u m b e r

-9%

East Midlands

W e s t M i d l a n d s -12%

-12% E a s t o f E n g l a n d

W a l e s -13%

-9%

London

S o u t h W e s t -14% -12% S o u t h E a s t

The map shows the percentage change in applications by region from November 2021 to December 2021.

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Local Planning Authorities: A focus on the North West Despite another year affected by the pandemic, planning, building and constructions are all industries that have seen a significant boom when using application submission and development as the benchmark.

For the private sector and submitting applications, the increase in work brings its rewards – more work equals greater profit, albeit, despite operational control, you can only manage so much with limited resource. Local authorities cannot control or predict service demand effectively and have therefore been on the receiving end of a huge increase in applications. This uncertainty makes resource planning difficult; there is simply not the qualified professional resource available for recruitment to help manage the increase to plug the gap.

Coupled with this, there is a reliance on temporary resource due to the unpredictability of future trends, further exacerbating the burden on gaining approval to recruit.

In light of this conundrum, local authority staff have been making a concerted effort to process this additional caseload as quickly, efficiently and effectively as possible with the same or less resource (yes, they can catch Covid too) whilst they have bedded-in new processes, both technical and operationally to work from wherever.

So nearly two years in, the strain is taking its toll on the stretched local authority workforce in getting the job done and trying to fulfil government’s changing legislative and digital agendas.

We are hearing first-hand that the initial positive collaboration and drawing together of the different parties involved in planning is now waning and is being replaced with frustration and annoyance at delays in the validation and determination process. It would be good to get your views on this and how we can potentially tackle this together?

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This month we look at the past year in comparison to recent years throughout the pandemic to see which LPAs are receiving the most applications overall, and the percentage changes realised as part of their total amount of online applications.

Top 15 Local Authorities by number of online applications

LPA

Total 2019 Total 2020 Total 2021 19 v 20 % (+/-) 20 v 21 % (+/-)

Cornwall Council

6,193

7,844

9,582

27%

22%

Leeds City Council

6,100

7,271

9,076

19%

25%

Birmingham City Council

5,644

6,607

7,649

17%

16%

Wiltshire Council

5,499

6,277

7,397

14%

18%

Westminster City Council

8,138

6,906

7,361

-15%

7%

Barnet London Borough

5,802

6,545

7,088

13%

8%

Dorset Council

5,519

6,209

6,899

13%

11%

Bristol City Council

4,532

5,090

5,804

12%

14%

Cheshire East Council

4,526

4,837

5,605

7%

16%

Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole (BCP) Council

3,773

4,627

5,573

23%

20%

London Borough of Bromley

4,477

4,833

5,565

8%

15%

Croydon Council

4,630

5,217

5,542

13%

6%

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

4,246

4,501

5,195

6%

15%

Wandsworth Borough Council

4,538

4,459

5,191

-2%

16%

Ealing Council London Borough

4,124

4,643

5,183

13%

12%

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Applications by type December usually sees a drop in application numbers across all types of application and this year was no exception. December saw Householder applications drop 9% from November, with the drop-off only marginally steeper than 2020 or 2019. Full Planning applications saw a similar drop of 8%, with volumes fairly consistent with 2019. This was in marked contrast to December 2020, where the volume actually increased from the previous month.

For the year overall, applications rose by 17% as compared to the previous year, but the picture by application type was much more varied. As a whole, applications related to home improvement projects performed strongly compared to 2020: Householder and related consents were up 29%, Prior Approvals for Larger Home Extensions were up 28% and Lawful Development Certificates increased by 27%.

The other main consent type by volume is Full Planning and related consents.

Over the year, this type increased by only 8%. Outline applications, which often indicate a pipeline for larger developments actually fell by 5% compared to 2020.

All other significant application types increased year-on-year, as can be seen in the table.

Application Type

Total 2020 vs 2019 (+/-)

Householder and associated consents

+18%

+29%

Full Planning and associated consents

-5%

+8%

Outline Applications

-8%

-5%

-34%

+21%

+378%

+11%

Tree Works: Trees in conservation areas/subject to TPOs

+36%

+4%

Lawful Development Certificates

+14%

+27%

-

+28%

Advertising Applications Prior Approval: Development by Telecoms Operators

Prior Approval: Larger Home Extension

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Nov 2021 vs 2020 (+/-)

Householder Applications and associated consents 28,000

26,000

24,000

22,000

20,000

18,000

16,000

14,000

12,000

10,000

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun 2019

Jul 2020

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

2021

Full Planning Applications and associated consents

14,000

12,000

10,000

8,000

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun 2019

Jul 2020

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

2021

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Planning application fees in 2021

December 2021 saw the highest amount of planning fees paid, at nearly £32 million. Th fees paid in 2021 and also saw the highest number of applications ever submitted. Des

Although we typically see a drop in submission numbers at the end of the year, even ove as a consistently strong month for fees paid to Local Authorities. It is unclear as to wha prior to the Christmas break to meet year end targets and to ensure companies are on

Compared to November 2021, December saw a near £8 million increase in application period.

In total throughout 2021, the record level of applications submitted also equated to th increase on 2020. We know that applications submitted have a wide range of fees payab correlation to actual planning fees. It is however no surprise that the bumper year in te

Planning fee income f £35,000,000

£30,000,000

£25,000,000

£20,000,000

£15,000,000

£10,000,000

£5,000,000

£0

12

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

J

May

2019

2

his was £2.1 million higher than March, which had the second highest amount of planning spite this, December 2021 fees were still £572,958, or 2%, down on December 2020.

er the past two years with the abnormal levels of submissions, the figures show December at may drive this increase, but we do know that a lot of larger applications are submitted n track in line with next year’s budgets.

n fees. This still contrasts with the near 7,000 decrease in applications submitted over this

he highest fee income to local authorities at £313,206,454. This was an almost £43million ble, from £0 to £300,000+ and that therefore numbers of applications do not have a direct erms of submissions overall has also meant such a high total in terms of fees paid.

for online applications

Jun

2020

Jul

2021

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

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Planning Portal webinars It’s nearly time for ‘go-live’ with our new re-platformed planning application service. Our teams are currently finalising the user testing process to ensure the service we deliver to you in the new year meets the current service requirements and minimises the impact on users when we transition the accounts across.

If you have submitted a planning application through Planning Portal or Planning Applications Wales in the last four years, you should have received a notification about the migration process. If you need more information on this, please read our blog post and FAQs for guidance.

Register Now

Land viability survey Calling all architects, contractors, planning consultants, land owners, property developers and project team members!

Nova are currently preparing a report on UK Land Development: State of Play 2022, which will be based on the widest UK audience of contracts developing land projects today – and if you are involved in the land development lifecycle, they’d like to receive your input.

The survey, and consequent report, will allow the industry to understand the challenges in finding viable land development projects, and to identify what would improve the success rate of them.

This annual report aims to measure and monitor the developments in the sector to understand the challenges faced across all the value chain. Planning Portal are pleased to support this valuable insight.

The summary of this analysis will be shared with all parties that complete the survey, allowing you to guide and benchmark your position compared to that of your peers in the industry.

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https://uklanddevelopment.typeform.com/to/YF9GwZw2?typeformsource=community.planningportal.co.uk

Call for speakers now open!

The Planning Portal are moving their annual virtual conference to Spring, and in 2022 will be running from Monday 25 April to Thursday 28 April.

The agenda for the 4-day conference is: • Monday 25 April – Building Safety Programme • Tuesday 26 April – Regeneration • Wednesday 27 April – Retrofit to achieve Net Zero • Thursday 28 April – Future of Planning – Pathways

There are numerous challenges facing planning and building, and the conference aims to address the key topics pertinent right now.

We would like to invite companies to submit their proposals to join the conference programme. Have you interesting case studies or lessons you have learnt that address any of the topics?

Are you thought leaders and have interesting insight and experience to share?

Simply email conference@planningportal.co.uk to request the speaker submission form.

Registration for the conference will be opening soon, keep an eye out for our launch communication in the coming weeks.

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Planning Market Insight Report from the Planning Portal

This report is provided for free on behalf of the Planning Portal and TerraQuest If you think this report would be useful for your colleagues too, please send them the link to register.

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January 2022: Planning Market Insight Report