February’s Market Insight Report is now available

Welcome to February’s issue of the Planning Portal Market Insight Report, where we report on the latest figures for applications submitted online via the Planning Portal. 

There was a total of 50,431 applications submitted through the Planning Portal in February 2024. This is 1% higher than the total number of applications that were submitted in February 2023, and shows some recovery from January, which received 5% less applications than the same month in the previous year. 

Excluding Works to Protected Trees and Telecoms applications, the total number of applications for February was 43,458; 1% lower than February 2023 which had a total of 43,823 applications. 

The regional view 

Most regions saw an increase in applications compared to February last year. Wales saw a 5% increase, with the East of England, London and the South-West showing a 2% increase when compared to the previous year. A few of the regions realised a further decreases of 1% in February, compared to 2023. The East Midlands continued the trend started in January, which saw a negligible increase of just 0.46%, with this month seeing another 1% increase. 

The highest volume of applications was submitted in the South-East region, with a total of 10,268 applications this month. Although this is a decrease from February 2023, it was the only region to have over 10,000 applications this month. London also came in at just under 10,000, with 9,560 applications for February 2024. 

The map below shows the percentage change in the number of applications submitted per region in February 2024, compared with February 2023. 

Applications by type  

The table below shows how applications by type have risen or fallen in February 2024, compared with February 2023. 

Householder and Prior Approval for larger home extension applications saw a further decrease compared to February last year, down 9% and 8% respectively. This could be a reflection of the high cost of living and lending rates, plus uncertainty around the impending election.  

Full Planning application types continued a similar pattern to last year with a 1% increase, or an additional 82 applications, in total. 

Due to the time of the year Tree Works achieved a 20% increase in February 23, while Development by Telecoms Operators were at a 63% decrease for the year to date. This could mean fewer 5G network applications are being submitted. 

Householder and Associated applications 

There were 13,968 Householder applications submitted in February 2024, compared with 15,281 in February last year. This is a 9% decrease.   

Figures for other home improvement project applications include 3,819 Lawful Development Certificates, which is a 0% change when compared with last year’s figure of 3,831, as well as 1,079 Larger Home Prior Approvals, which saw a decline of 8% compared to February of the previous year. This is a recovery from January’s figures of a 14% decrease. 

Full Planning applications  

Full Planning applications recovered in February, with a 1% increase when compared to February 2023. This was 9,656 applications in total. This is a positive recovery from being at a 6% decline when comparing January 2024 to January 2023. 

Planning fees processed for online applications  

In February, we processed a total of £23,690,700 in planning fees on behalf of local authorities. This was a 11% increase when compared to February 2023. This increase was seen despite the fact that applications actually fell by 4%. This shows that the planning fee increase on the 6 December is having an impact. The average fee value was seen at £470, which was a 10% increase when compared to February 2023. 

The Planning Portal has access to online application data exclusively available at the point of submission to Local Planning Authorities. The insights this data provides allows you to gain an early idea of what’s being applied for throughout England and Wales. If you would like to access this data on a more granular level, please email: communications@planningportal.co.uk 

To access this data first, subscribe to our mailing list here.