National statistics

Planning applications in England: July to September 2023 - statistical release

Published 7 December 2023

Applies to England

1. Main points

Between July to September 2023, district level planning authorities in England:

• received 87,800 applications for planning permission, down 12% from the same quarter a year earlier;
• decided 85,600 applications for planning permission, down 13% from the same quarter a year earlier;
• granted 73,500 decisions, down 14% from the same quarter a year earlier; this is equivalent to 86% of decisions, down one percentage point from the same quarter a year earlier;
• decided 88% of major applications within 13 weeks or the agreed time, up one percentage point from the same quarter a year earlier;
• granted 7,900 residential applications, down 10% from the same quarter a year earlier;
• granted 1,700 applications for commercial developments, down 10% from the same quarter a year earlier; and
• decided 45,100 householder development applications, down 19% from the same quarter a year earlier. This accounted for 53% of all decisions, down from 57% a year earlier.

In the year ending September 2023, district level planning authorities:

• granted 303,600 decisions, down 13% from the year ending September 2022; and
• granted 33,200 residential applications, down 8% from the year ending September 2022.

2. Introduction

This statistical release presents Accredited Official Statistics on authorities that undertake district and county level planning activities in England. It covers information on planning applications received and decided, including decisions on applications for residential developments (dwellings) and enforcement activities. Data are provided at national and local planning authority level and are based on information reported for the relevant quarters as at 3 November 2023 for the PS1/2 return (‘District matters’) and the CPS1/2 return (‘County matters’).

The separate Technical Notes document includes figures for response rates and a Definitions section which provides a link to a glossary containing details of the main terms used within this release and associated live tables.

The Department has produced an interactive dashboard comprising data from the PS1/2 and CPS1/2 returns and open data (.csv) files to complement the ongoing use of live tables in spreadsheets which are available from the planning applications statistics web page.

3. Authorities undertaking district level planning

A summary of the trends in applications, decisions and permissions granted is provided in Figure 1. The number of applications, decisions and permissions at district level in this publication is usually rounded to the nearest hundred^{[footnote 1]}; unrounded figures are available in the accompanying Live Tables and Dashboard.

3.1 Planning applications received

During July to September 2023, authorities undertaking district level planning in England received 87,800 applications for planning permission, down 12% from the same quarter a year earlier. In the year ending September 2023, authorities received 369,900 planning applications, down 13% from the year ending September 2022 (Live Table P134, PS1 Dashboard).

3.2 Planning decisions

Authorities reported 85,600 decisions on planning applications in July to September 2023, down 13% from the same quarter a year earlier. In the year ending September 2023, authorities decided 352,100 planning applications, down 11% from the year ending September 2022. A decrease in the number of householder development decisions (of 19%) was a key driver of this, with numbers of decisions made – excluding householder developments – decreasing by a much lower 5%. Householder developments are those developments to a residence which require planning permission such as extensions, loft conversions and conservatories (Live Tables P120/P133/P134, PS1/PS2 Dashboard).

3.3 Applications granted

During July to September 2023, authorities granted 73,500 decisions, down 14% from the same quarter a year earlier. Authorities granted 86% of all decisions, down one percentage point from the same quarter a year earlier. In the year ending September 2023, authorities granted 303,600 decisions, down 13% from the year ending September 2022. Authorities granted 86% of all decisions, down one percentage point from the year ending September 2022 (Live Tables P120/P133, PS2 Dashboard).

3.4 Applications on hand

Authorities reported that they had 131,900 applications on hand as at 1 July 2023, down 14% from the same quarter a year earlier. This is 54% above the number of decisions made during the quarter. The corresponding figure for the same quarter a year earlier was 57%. (Live Table P133, PS1 dashboard).

3.5 Historical context

Figure 1 shows that, since about 2009-10, the numbers of applications received, decisions made and applications granted have each followed a similar pattern. As well as the usual within-year pattern of peaks in the Summer (July to September quarter) and troughs in the Autumn and Winter (October to December and January to March quarters), there was a clear downward trend during the 2008 economic downturn, followed by a period of stability. There was a large dip in 2020 following the start of the pandemic and a subsequent recovery in early 2021, including a particular peak in applications received, but since the peak there has been a steep downward trend.

Figure 1: Number of planning applications received, decided and granted (thousands)

England, quarter ending June 2005 to quarter ending September 2023

Historical figures for all district level decisions dating back to 2013-14 are set out in Live Table P120, with separate breakdowns for residential and commercial decisions being shown in Live Tables P120A and P120B respectively. These latter two tables are discussed below in the sections on residential and commercial decisions. Alternatively an extended time series is available within the Dashboard and the full time series is available within the PS1 and PS2 open data tables. Revisions are made to the figures submitted by local authorities but are generally very small^{[footnote 2]}.

3.6 Regional breakdowns

Table 1 shows how numbers of applications received, decisions made and decisions granted varied by region. It also shows how the percentage of decisions granted varies widely by region, from 79% in London to 92% in North East (Live Table P133, PS1/PS2 Dashboard).

Table 1: Regional breakdown of applications and decisions

Quarter ending September 2023:

	Number of applications received	Number of applications decided	Number of applications granted	Percentage of decisions granted
England	87,800	85,600	73,500	86
East Midlands	6,800	6,400	5,700	88
East of England	11,200	11,200	9,400	84
London	15,200	14,700	11,600	79
National Parks	1,600	1,500	1,400	91
North East	2,600	2,500	2,300	92
North West	8,300	7,800	6,900	88
South East	17,000	17,200	15,000	87
South West	10,900	10,200	9,100	89
West Midlands	7,600	7,200	6,300	87
Yorkshire and the Humber	6,800	6,800	5,900	86

Table 2 like Table 1 shows how numbers of applications received, and planning decisions made, varied by region. It also shows the percentage change in number of applications received and decided compared to the same quarter a year earlier. The percentage change in the number of applications received varies widely by region, from -16% in Yorkshire and the Humber to -4% in North East (PS1 Dashboard).

Table 2: Regional breakdown of changes in applications received and decided

Quarter ending September 2023 compared to the quarter ending September 2022:

	Number of applications received	Percentage change from previous year	Number of applications decided	Percentage change from previous year
England	87,800	-12	85,600	-13
East Midlands	6,800	-11	6,400	-21
East of England	11,200	-14	11,200	-13
London	15,200	-8	14,700	-9
National Parks	1,600	-7	1,500	-9
North East	2,600	-4	2,500	-10
North West	8,300	-14	7,800	-15
South East	17,000	-12	17,200	-12
South West	10,900	-15	10,200	-16
West Midlands	7,600	-6	7,200	-9
Yorkshire and the Humber	6,800	-16	6,800	-14

3.7 Decisions granted

Figure 2 summarises the distribution of the percentage of decisions granted across authorities for major, minor and other developments using box and whisker plots. The ends of the box are the upper and lower quartiles, meaning that 50% of local authorities fall within this range, with the horizontal line in the centre of the box representing the median. The whiskers are the two lines above and below the box that are 1.5 times the size of the box (the interquartile range) with the dots representing outliers. Figure 2 shows that the range between the whiskers for the percentage of applications granted is widest between authorities for major developments (40% to 100%), followed by minor developments (54% to 100%) and other developments (72% to 100%) (PS2 Dashboard).

Figure 2: Percentage of planning decisions granted, by type of development

Local planning authorities, quarter ending September 2023

3.8 Speed of decisions

In July to September 2023, 88% of major applications were decided within 13 weeks or within the agreed time, up one percentage point from the same quarter a year earlier. 21% of major applications were decided within the statutory time period of 13 weeks, up two percentage points from the same quarter a year earlier.

In the same quarter, 85% of minor applications were decided within 8 weeks or within the agreed time, up three percentage points from the same quarter a year earlier. 39% of minor applications were decided within the statutory time period of 8 weeks, up three percentage points from the same quarter a year earlier.

Also in the same quarter, 90% of other applications were decided within 8 weeks or within the agreed time, up three percentage points from the same quarter a year earlier. 56% of other applications were decided within the statutory time period of 8 weeks, up five percentage points from the same quarter a year earlier.

For more information on major, minor and other developments please see the PS1 and PS2 district planning matter guidance notes.

Figure 3 shows that range between the whiskers for the percentage of decisions made in time this quarter for major developments was (50% to 100%), for minor developments it was (62% to 100%) and for other developments it was (72% to 100%) (PS2 Dashboard).

Figure 3: Percentage of planning decisions made in time, by type of development

Local planning authorities, quarter ending September 2023

3.9 Use of performance agreements

‘Performance agreement’ is an umbrella term used here to refer to Planning Performance Agreements, Extensions of Time and Environmental Impact Assessments. Between July to September 2023, 42% of all planning application decisions involved a performance agreement. Major developments were more likely to involve a performance agreement compared to minor and other developments with 74% of major decisions involving a planning agreement, compared with 51% of minor decisions and 37% of other decisions (Reference Table 2, PS2 Dashboard).

Figure 4 shows, from April 2010, the numbers of decisions on major, minor and other developments made involving a performance agreement, compared with numbers without a performance agreement. Notwithstanding definition changes, there has been a marked increase in the use of agreements since early 2013 (see Technical Notes for more information). This longer upward trend has been driven by both the additional scope for recording them and their additional use (Live Table P120, PS2 Dashboard).

Figure 4: Use of performance agreements with applications for major, minor and other developments

England, quarter ending June 2010 to quarter ending September 2023

Figure 5 shows that in the quarter to September 2023, 91% of major development decisions involving performance agreements were made on time. In comparison, 79% of major decisions not involving performance agreements were made within the statutory time limit of 13 weeks (see Reference Table 2, PS2 Dashboard).

Figure 5: Percentage of major, minor and other development decisions made in time

England, quarter ending June 2014 to quarter ending September 2023

3.10 Performance of individual district level local planning authorities

The existing approach to measuring the performance of authorities was introduced by the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 and is based on assessing local planning authorities’ performance on the speed and quality of their decisions on applications for major and non-major development. Where an authority is formally designated by the Secretary of State as underperforming, applicants have had the option of submitting their applications for major and non-major development (and connected applications) directly to the Planning Inspectorate (who act on behalf of the Secretary of State) for determination. See Improving planning performance: criteria for designation for more information.

Speed of decisions

The designation thresholds, below which a local planning authority is eligible for designation are:

• For applications for major development: less than 60% of an authority’s decisions made within the statutory determination period or such extended period as has been agreed in writing with the applicant;

• For applications for non-major development: less than 70% of an authority’s decisions made within the statutory determination period or such extended period as has been agreed in writing with the applicant.

See Live Tables P151/P153

Quality of decisions

The threshold for designation on applications for both major and non-major development, above which a local planning authority is at risk of designation, is 10% of an authority’s total number of decisions on applications made during the assessment period being overturned at appeal.

See Live Tables P152/P154

3.11 Residential decisions

In July to September 2023, 11,200 decisions were made on applications for residential developments^{[footnote 3]}, of which 7,900 (71%) were granted. The number of residential decisions made was down 7% from the same quarter a year earlier, with the number granted down 10% from the same quarter a year earlier. 900 major residential decisions were granted, down 10% from the same quarter a year earlier and 7,000 major residential decisions were granted, down 10% from the same quarter a year earlier (Live Table P120A, PS2 Dashboard).

In the year ending September 2023, 46,400 decisions were made on applications for residential developments, of which 33,200 (71%) were granted. The number of residential decisions made was down 6% from the previous year, with the number granted down 8% from the year ending September 2022. 4,000 major residential decisions were granted, down 10% from the previous year and 29,200 minor residential decisions were granted, down 8% from the previous year.

3.12 Residential units

The figures collected by the Department are the numbers of decisions on planning applications submitted to local planning authorities, rather than the number of units included in each application, such as the number of homes in the case of housing developments. The Department supplements this information by obtaining statistics on housing permissions from a contractor, Glenigan^{[footnote 4]}.

The latest provisional figures show that permission for 245,000 homes was given in the year to September 2023, down 15% from the 290,000 homes granted permission in the year to September 2022. On an ongoing basis, figures are revised to ensure that any duplicates are removed as far as possible, and also to include any projects that local planning authorities may not have processed: they are therefore subject to change, and the latest quarter’s provisional figures tend to be revised upwards. For the previous eight quarters, the year to figures have been revised upwards by 2% on average. These figures are provided here to give contextual information to users and have not been designated as National Statistics.

Table 3: Number of housing units granted planning permission

England, up to the year ending September 2023

Rolling annual total to	Number of units granted	Percentage change from prior year
2009 Q3	147,000	-
2010 Q3	162,000	10
2011 Q3	163,000	0
2012 Q3	174,000	7
2013 Q3	205,000	18
2014 Q3	220,000	8
2015 Q3	255,000	16
2016 Q3	306,000	20
2017 Q3	332,000	8
2018 Q3	301,000	-9
2019 Q3	329,000	9
2020 Q3	295,000	-10
2021 Q3	325,000	10
2022 Q3	290,000	-11
2023 Q3	245,000	-15

Source: Glenigan planning permission data: snapshot as at 23 November 2023.

The figures are rounded to the nearest thousand and the latest reported figures are often revised upwards in later quarters.

Figure 6: Number of housing units granted planning permission

England, year ending June 2009 to year ending September 2023

The number of units granted are often revised upwards for recent quarters.

Table 4: Numbers of housing units granted permission in the year to September 2023: by size and number of projects

England, up to the year ending September 2023

Site size	Number of units granted	% of total number of units	Number of projects	% of total number of projects
1 Unit	4,200	2	4,400	39
2 Units	1,700	1	900	8
3-5 Units	8,400	3	2,300	21
6-9 Units	8,400	3	1,300	11
9 units or less	22,700	9	8,800	78
10 Units	1,000	0	100	1
11-49 Units	26,900	11	1,100	10
50-99 Units	28,900	12	500	4
100-149 Units	25,600	10	200	2
150-199 Units	21,100	9	100	1
200-499 Units	79,700	33	300	3
500+ Units	39,200	16	100	1
10 units or more	222,500	91	2,400	22
Grand Total	245,200	100	11,200	100

Table 5: Housing units granted permission in the year to September 2023: by region

England, up to the year ending September 2023

Region	Units granted, (rounded to nearest 100)	% of England total
England	245,200	100
East Midlands	24,100	10
East of England	30,400	12
London	49,300	20
National Parks	600	0
North East	9,000	4
North West	28,500	12
South East	38,700	16
South West	22,300	9
West Midlands	20,400	8
Yorkshire and the Humber	22,000	9

When considering the above figures in relation to the central government ambition of raising housing supply to 300,000 homes per year on average by the mid-2020s, it should be noted that many permissions do not result in a home being delivered in practice. This is due to a range of reasons, relating to the circumstances of landowners and developers, as well as the local and national economy. In addition, i) time lags in building can affect the number of homes built in a particular period; and ii) the methodology used cannot guarantee that all double counting of permissions is removed from the above figures.

In comparing the number of residential applications granted and the number of units granted, it should be noted that the two series measure different things and use data from different sources, and so may not track each other closely over the short term. More specifically, this difference is likely to be due to a combination of differences in the timing of recorded decisions and a difference in the average numbers of homes included within the relevant planning applications.

3.13 Commercial decisions

In July to September 2023, 1,900 decisions were made on applications for commercial developments^{[footnote 5]}, of which 1,700 (87%) were granted. The number of commercial decisions made was down 7% from the same quarter a year earlier, with the number granted down 10% from the same quarter a year earlier. 400 major commercial decisions were granted, down 14% from the same quarter a year earlier and 1,300 minor commercial decisions were granted, down 8% from the same quarter a year earlier (Live Table P120B, PS2 Dashboard).

In the year ending September 2023, 7,800 decisions were made on applications for commercial developments, of which 6,900 (89%) were granted. The number of commercial decisions made was down 7% from the previous year, with the number granted down 8% from the year ending September 2022. 1,500 major commercial decisions were granted, down 9% from the previous year and 5,400 minor commercial decisions were granted, down 8% from the previous year.

3.14 Trends in the percentage of residential and commercial applications

Figure 7: Number of planning applications decided by district authorities, by type of development

England, quarter ending March 2000 to quarter ending September 2023

3.15 Householder developments

Householder developments are those developments to a residence which require planning permission such as extensions, loft conversions and conservatories (see Definitions section of the Technical Notes).

The number of decisions made on householder developments was 45,100 in the quarter ending September 2023, accounting for 53% of all decisions, down from 57% of all decisions made in the quarter ending September 2022. Authorities granted 89% of these applications and decided 91% within eight weeks or the agreed time (Reference Table 2, PS2 Dashboard).

In the year ending September 2023, 189,100 decisions were made on applications for householder developments, accounting for 54% of all decisions, down from 57% of all decisions made in the year ending September 2022. Authorities granted 89% of these applications and decided 90% within eight weeks or the agreed time.

3.16 Major public service infrastructure development decisions

Since August 2021, major public service infrastructure developments broadly defined as major developments for schools, hospitals and criminal justice accommodation have been subject to an accelerated decision-making timetable.

Separate figures on major public service infrastructure development decisions have been collected on the quarterly PS2 return with effect from October 2021. During July to September 2023 there were 17 decisions, of which all 17 were granted and 14 were decided in time (Live Table MJPSI, PS2 Dashboard). Please note that figures are not collected on the CPS1/2 return and so don’t include education developments by county councils.

3.17 Permission in Principle/Technical Details consent decisions

Since April 2017, local planning authorities have had the ability to grant permission in principle (PiP) to sites which have been entered on their brownfield land registers. Where sites have a grant of permission in principle, applicants have been able to submit an application for Technical Details Consent (TDC) for development on these sites. In addition, since June 2018, it has also been possible to make an application for PiP for minor housing-led development as a separate application, independently of the brownfield register. Where a site has been granted PiP following an application, it is possible to apply for a TDC.

Figures on PiP/TDC decisions have been collected on the quarterly PS2 return from January 2020. During July to September 2023, local planning authorities reported 127 PiP (minor housing-led developments) decisions, 12 TDC (minor housing-led developments) decisions and 2 TDC (major developments) decisions. The totals for the previous quarters have been similar although there has been a slow upward trend since 2020, when there were about 60 PiP decisions per quarter (Live Table PiP/TDC1, PS2 dashboard).

3.18 Permitted development rights

Planning permission for some types of development has been granted nationally through legislation, and the resulting rights are known as ‘permitted development rights’ (PDRs). For certain permitted development rights, if the legislation is complied with, developments can go ahead without the requirement to notify the local planning authority. Hence no way of capturing this data exists and these are not accounted for in this report. In other cases, the permitted development right legislation requires an application to the local planning authority to determine whether or not prior approval is required and to determine as appropriate (see the Definitions section of the Technical Notes).

Between July to September 2023, 6,100 applications were reported, of which prior approval was not required for 3,100, permission was granted for 1,600, and 1,400 were refused. This resulted in an overall acceptance rate^{[footnote 6]} of 78%. Large householder extension accounted for 58% of all PDR applications reported, with 27% relating to All others, 7% relating to Agricultural to residential, and 5% relating to Commercial Business and service to residential (Live Tables PDR1/PDR2).

In the quarter to September 2023, 800 permitted development right applications were made for changes to residential use, of which 500 (66%) were given the go-ahead without having to go through the full planning process.

Overall during the 38 quarters ending September 2023, district planning authorities reported 319,400 applications for prior approvals for permitted developments. For 179,600 of them prior approval was not required, 74,200 were granted and 65,600 were refused (Live Table PDR2).

Figure 8: Permitted development rights decided by district planning authorities

England, quarter ending June 2014 to year ending September 2023

Please note, different rights have come to into force and ceased to have effect since 2014, and therefore the annual figures are not directly comparable. See Live Table PDR1 and PDR2 for more information.

3.19 Other information

England totals for all the items of information collected on the PS1 and PS2 returns for July to September 2023 are given in Reference Tables 1 and 2 respectively. These include the following, for which definitions are given in the Definitions section of the Technical Notes:

Delegated decisions

Of the 85,600 decisions made during the quarter, 82,300 (96%) were delegated to officers. This percentage has been stable since 2014, having previously increased from around 75% in 2000 (Live Table P133).

Enforcement activity

During the quarter, authorities issued 1012 enforcement notices and served 1013 planning contravention notices, 159 breach of condition notices, 32 stop notices and 68 temporary stop notices, while 5 enforcement injunctions were granted by the High/County Court and no injunctive applications were refused. In recent years, this level of activity has remained broadly proportionate to the number of planning decisions made (Live Table P127).

Regulation 3 and 4 decisions

295 ‘Regulation 3’ and 58 ‘Regulation 4’ decisions were made. Relative to the number of planning decisions made in recent years, numbers of ‘Regulation 3’ decisions have dropped and those for ‘Regulation 4’ have remained stable (Live Table P128).

Traveller pitches

During the quarter, authorities decided 1 major application for traveller pitches, and deciding it within 13 weeks or the agreed time.

They also decided 59 minor applications for traveller pitches, granting 35 of them and deciding 45 of them within eight weeks or the agreed time.

For both major and minor applications for traveller pitches, the numbers of decisions, and percentages of applications granted and decided on time, have remained broadly stable since figures were first collected in 2008 (Live Table P137, PS2 Dashboard).

4. Authorities undertaking county level planning

Authorities that undertake county level planning activity include counties, unitary authorities, London boroughs, metropolitan districts, national parks and development corporations. ‘County matter’ applications include the winning and working of minerals and the deposit of waste. In the year to September 2023 county planning authorities received 770 applications, compared to the 369,900 applications received by district planning authorities.

Between July to September 2023, county level planning authorities in England:

• received 179 applications for planning permission, down 1% from the same quarter a year earlier;
• decided 142 applications for planning permission, down 10% from the same quarter a year earlier;
• granted 132 decisions, down 9% from the same quarter a year earlier. This is equivalent to 93% of decisions, up one percentage point from the same quarter a year earlier; and
• decided 87% of applications within 13 weeks or the agreed time, down one percentage point from the same quarter a year earlier.

4.1 Planning decisions

Waste developments accounted for 61% of the total decisions, mineral developments for 32% and other developments for 6% (CPS2 Dashboard).

4.2 Permitted development rights

Between July to September 2023, 9 applications were reported, of which prior approval was not required for 2, permission was granted for 6, and 1 were refused. This resulted in an overall acceptance rate of 89% (Live Table PDR3, CPS1 Dashboard).

4.3 Other information

England totals for all the items of information collected on the CPS1 return for July to September 2023 are given in Reference Table 3. These include the following, for which definitions are given in the Definitions section of the Technical Notes:

Delegated decisions

Of the 142 decisions made during the quarter, 103 (73%) were delegated to officers. This percentage has been stable since 2014 in recent years (CPS1 Dashboard).

Enforcement activity

During the quarter, authorities issued 11 enforcement notices and served 32 planning contravention notices, no breach of condition notices, 3 stop notices and 4 temporary stop notices, while no enforcement injunctions were granted by the High/County Court and no injunctive application were refused. In recent years, this level of activity has remained broadly proportionate to the number of planning decisions made (CPS1 Dashboard).

Regulation 3 and 4 decisions

140 ‘Regulation 3’ and no ‘Regulation 4’ decisions were made. Relative to the number of planning decisions made in recent years, numbers of ‘Regulation 3’ decisions have dropped and those for ‘Regulation 4’ have remained stable (CPS1 Dashboard).

4.4 Performance of individual county level local planning authorities

Speed of decisions

The designation thresholds, below which a local planning authority is eligible for designation are:

• For applications for major development: less than 60% of an authority’s decisions made within the statutory determination period or such extended period as has been agreed in writing with the applicant;

See Live Tables P151 (all developments) and P155 (oil/gas developments)

Quality of decisions

The threshold for designation on applications above which a local planning authority is eligible for designation, is 10% of an authority’s total number of decisions on applications made during the assessment period being overturned at appeal.

See Live Table P152

See Improving planning performance: criteria for designation for more information.

5. Accompanying tables and open data

Accompanying tables are available to download alongside this release.

An interactive dashboard comprising data from the PS1/2 and CPS1/2 returns is also available on the planning application statistics landing page.

PS1/2 open data (.csv files)

• Two files of PS1 data (.csv files) are available, with one holding data for the four most recent quarters only and the other holding data back to Q2 1996.
• Similarly, two files of PS2 data (.csv files) are available, with one holding data for the four most recent quarters only and the other holding data back to Q2 1979.

Open data tables and supporting documents

CPS1/2 open data (.csv files)

• Two files of CPS1 data (.csv files) are available, with one holding data for the four most recent quarters only and the other holding data back to Q2 1995.
• In addition, two files of CPS2 data (.csv files) are available, with one holding data for the four most recent quarters only and the other holding data back to Q2 1989.

Open data tables and supporting documents

6. Technical Notes

Please see the accompanying Technical Notes document for further details of definitions, related statistics and other technical details.

Please see the glossary of terms and definitions used in DLUHC housing statistical publications and English Housing Survey reports.

Information on the UK Statistical System is available via the UK Statistics Authority website: https://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/

Information about statistics at Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is available via the Department’s website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-levelling-up-housing-and-communities/about/statistics

7. Enquiries

Date of next release: March 2024

Media enquiries: 0303 444 1209 newsdesk@levellingup.gov.uk

Public enquiries and responsible statistician: Andrew Presland

Email: planning.statistics@levellingup.gov.uk

Information on Official Statistics is available via the UK Statistics Authority website.

Information about statistics at DLUHC is available via the Department’s website.

1. National Statistics are accredited official statistics. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. Please see the Office for Statistics Regulation website for further details.

2. Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

1. The three exceptions are the permissions totals provided by Glenigan Ltd (rounded to the nearest 1,000 due to the relative turbulence of the figures), numbers of projects by region provided by Glenigan Ltd (rounded to the nearest ten because some numbers are very low) and the enforcement actions towards the end of the section (unrounded, because some numbers are very low). ↩

2. The largest revisions made this quarter to an England total for April to June 2023 was an increase of 529 (0.4%) in the number of applications on hand at the start of the quarter. This was mostly due to a PS1 return being submitted for the quarter by a local planning authority that had not previously done so. ↩

3. ‘Residential’ is used in this release to refer only to developments involving the construction or conversion of dwellings, rather than also including other developments involving people’s homes, such as householder developments and some changes of use. ↩

4. Glenigan routinely collects data on planning applications submitted to all English local planning authorities and records the information by maintaining a ‘planning application’ for every project. The data have been updated over time as subsequent applications are submitted and decisions made, with all new applications being matched against the existing database at entry stage. This has involved an automated process supplemented by manual checking to identify any further matching projects. More details are given in the Definitions section of the Technical Notes. ↩

5. Commercial developments are defined in this release as: ‘Offices, research and development, light industry’, ’General industry, storage, warehousing’ and ‘Retail and service’. ↩

6. The acceptance rate is defined as the number of applications for which prior approval was not required, or for which permission was granted, as a percentage of the total number of applications. ↩