The number of householder, full and outline planning applications submitted in England and Wales have all fallen by significant margins, according to latest figures from Planning Portal.

Its recently published Market Insight Report for April shows that there were a total of 48,094 applications submitted online to local planning authorities via its website.

Compared with April 2023, householder and full planning applications were both down by 8%, while outline applications dropped by 12%.

The fall in applications may, in part, be due to Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements coming into force for small sites from April 2.

It follows a 30% rise in applications in March compared with March 2023 – suggesting a surge in applications to qualify for BNG exemption before the April implementation date.

It will be interesting to see the May figures, which are out at the end of June. A return to more normal levels for May would confirm the trend.

Advertising applications were up year-on-year by 19% in April, tree works increased by 21% and lawful development certificates by 3%.

Prior approval applications by telecoms operators dropped by 59% and prior approval applications for larger home extensions were down by 6%.

A total of £25,233,121 in planning fees was processed in April, which was 30% higher than April 2023.

This reflects increased planning application fees introduced in November, alongside a 2% increase in overall submissions for the month of April 2024 compared with April 2023.

In agreement with Planning Portal, it is hoped that this additional income ‘will allow authorities to better resource their departments and become more financially sustainable in terms of their overall service delivery costs’.

Please contact us to find out more about the best strategy for success with your planning application.