Planning Consultant Ben Norton has raised concern that a big drop in the number of Planning Applications made in April this year will cause significant problems for the housing crisis. Mr Norton, a Principal Planning Consultant for Norton Taylor Nunn, made the prediction after data was released by the Government showed a 3.5% drop in planning applications in March and an 18.5% drop in applications in April.
Mr Norton said: “Britain is still facing an acute housing crisis, which can only be tackled by building new homes. The Government’s ambition for 300,000 new homes a year always looked like a stretch. With the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, as we head into a recession, it looks impossible.”
“It is vital that planning applications are approved in a timely manner, because as the number of applications fall, so will housing completions – and that will snowball into much worse problems in the future. I’d urge local planning authorities to make use of the powers given them to increase delegated decisions and hold more meetings virtually,” added Mr Norton. “Unless we start approving large numbers of applications, we will slip further behind.”
Many applications fail on technical issues, which we can help identify. Others will fail on emotional arguments, or because the design decisions have not been effectively presented to decision takers. Norton Taylor Nunn can help you ensure that your application isn’t missing opportunities to maximise the prospect of approval. Why not get in touch with us today, and let’s build something together.
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