Market Insight December 2024
Planning application figures declined in 2024 compared to 2023, as anticipated. The largest real decrease was seen in householder planning permission, with 14,653 fewer applications, followed by full planning permission, which dropped by 9,333 applications. Larger Home Extensions saw a modest 3% decline overall, although December bucked the trend with a 3% increase compared to December 2023.
Despite the yearly downturn, the latter part of 2024, including December, showed relatively strong performance. This prompts intriguing questions about how the planning application landscape will evolve in 2025, particularly as changes to application fees and shifting development targets and priorities begin to take effect.
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Market Insights – November 2024
As expected, application figures are still down compared to last year, both for the month of November and for the year to date. As the lowest-performing November since before 2020, the data reflects broader challenges in the sector, but it also uncovers fascinating shifts in how existing spaces are being repurposed. While most application types are in decline, an uptick in conversions to dwellinghouses hints at changing priorities and potential opportunities amidst uncertainty.
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October Sees Seasonal Growth Despite Annual Decline
October 2024 saw a boost in planning activity, aligning with the seasonal growth typically observed at this time of year. This increase also represents a slight uplift compared to October 2023, indicating some stability amid a challenging year for the sector. While cumulative figures for 2024 continue to lag behind where we were on submissions at the same point last year, regional variations highlight pockets of resilience, with the East Midlands and London showing encouraging year-on-year growth.
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September sees 3% increase in applications, offering positivity against broader 2024 decline
September’s application numbers are up 3% against last month – remaining steady against the same month last year but showing a positive upswing against August. Two application types this month saw a particular increase – Larger Home Extension projects and TPOs.
Unfortunately, September’s promising increase is not significant enough to disturb 2024’s overall trend.
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As a part of monitoring the implementation of biodiversity net gain (BNG), we have been studying the data from submitted applications and engaging with the sector to determine how we best ensure applicants correctly identify when the BNG condition will or will not apply to their proposed developments.
Where applicants state BNG will not apply, we already ask them to select the reason(s) why it will not apply as well as entering the justification(s), but from 17th October 2024 we will be improving this journey to further help applicants assess the eligibility of their applications.
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As of August 2024, planning application numbers continue to fall.
Applications in August saw a decline compared to both the previous month and the same period last year. When compared with August 2023, we have seen applications fall by 5%, whilst when compared to July of this year, the figure falls by around 9.5%.
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As we move toward sustainable living, renewable energy options like heat pumps, solar panels, and biomass heaters are becoming increasingly popular among environmentally conscious homeowners seeking greener alternatives to traditional fossil fuels.
Planning Portal are keen to do all we can to support and facilitate sustainability within the built environment. You can find explanations of key home energy generation methods below:
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Planning Portal are passionate about supporting sustainability initiatives within the built environment in any way we can.
We welcomed the expansion of solar provisions into permitted development rights last year; making solar power more accessible is an essential step on the journey towards achieving national emission targets and environmental goals. Solar also presents a great money-saving solution for homeowners and developers alike.
As such, we are very pleased to announce that the four most recent types of prior approval application for solar developments, are now available on Planning Portal.
The four new online application types are as follows:
Application to determine if prior approval is required for a proposed:
- Installation or alteration of solar equipment on domestic premises
- Installation or alteration etc of stand-alone solar equipment on domestic premises
- Installation or alteration etc of stand-alone solar equipment on non-domestic premises
- Installation etc of a solar canopy on non-domestic, off-street parking
These provide more scope for solar panel installations on buildings (or in the curtilage of a building) and in non-domestic off-street parking areas without needing full or householder planning permission.
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Welcome to July’s issue of the Planning Portal Market Insight Report, where we report on the latest figures for applications submitted online via Planning Portal.
There was a total of 52,550 applications submitted through Planning Portal in July 2024. This is 1% lower than the total number of applications that were submitted in July 2023, showing a smaller decline than most months this year when compared to 2023.
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Just over three months ago, we launched our Building Control Portal, and we’re thrilled with the positive response and the growing engagement from our users.
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