Planning Market Insight Report – July 2020

At the Planning Portal we have been assessing recent planning application submission data in our Market Insight Report, allowing us to analyse trends and review the impact that COVID-19 has had upon planning and building and how this effects other industry sectors.

Our previous reports from May and June showed a huge decline in applications across the months of April and May, with an 18.5% and 14% decrease in submissions respectively when compared to the same months in 2019. However, there has been an enormous resurgence in applications for the month of June, with an increase of 21% compared to 2019.

July’s Market Insight Report is available here.

This positive turnaround may be due to both businesses and homeowners feeling more confident with the recent easing of lockdown rules, meaning they’re ready to submit applications that were previously on hold during the uncertainty of the previous few months.

However, many may still be tentative to commit to large projects, as the economy has suffered greatly during the pandemic and applicants will need to be sure that the market for their project is strong enough in the aftermath of lockdown. So, whilst the upward trajectory in applications is a major positive sign, we can’t be sure of what the future is likely to hold for planning, or English and Welsh industries in general.

This month’s report also features a deeper analysis on residential proposals submitted in 2020, taking into account their locations and a number of other factors, including the numbers of existing and proposed dwellings, dwelling types such as flats or houses, and housing categories, for example market or affordable, dwelling units proposed and net gains.

If you would like to subscribe to our full monthly Market Insight Report and to receive our subscriber’s launch offer price, please email communications@planningportal.co.uk. We would also love your feedback and if there is any information you would like included in the report, please contact us to let us know.