According to figures, 81 per cent of district planning applications in England were decided within eight weeks in 2005/6, up from 63 per cent in 2000/01 and 77 per cent in 2004/05. The number of applications decided after 13 weeks stood at 91 per cent, up from 90 per cent in 2004/5.
Mark Sismey-Durrant, chief executive at Heritable Bank, said: “This is very good news as when it comes to delays, it is often small issues which hold up the process. The problem for developers is that every time a project is delayed, it costs them money when they should be building the houses we need to overcome the shortage.”
Despite the improvement, the number of applications was down 6 per cent, with 645,000 applications made in 2005/6 compared to 689,000 the year before.
The number of applications granted was also down on last year, with 82 per cent passed in contrast to 83 per cent in 2004/05 and 87 per cent in 2000/01.
There were also regional differences in the speed of the planning application process.
Rachel Blackmore, head of external affairs at the Building Societies Association, said: “As we know, planning is one of the biggest barriers to providing an adequate supply of housing and one of the ways to tackle affordability is by ensuring enough property to meet demand. At the moment that’s not the case and it’s an uphill battle to persuade communities of the need to build more homes.”
