Research by Monta Capital has revealed a concerning trend with residential planning applications in England. Over the past four consecutive years, there has been an 8.3% year-on-year decline in granted residential planning applications. Monta Capital's analysis, spanning 2018 to 2023, aimed to shed light on the role of planning bureaucracy in the ongoing housing crisis.

In the fiscal year 2018-2019, a total of 46,808 residential planning applications were granted in England, encompassing both minor and major developments. This figure experienced a 6.6% reduction in the subsequent year, dropping to 43,701. The decline continued in 2020-2021, witnessing a further decrease of 10.9%. Subsequent years also reflected a downward trajectory, with declines of 2.7% in 2021-2022 and 8.3% in 2022-2023, resulting in a total of 34,785 granted applications.

Addressing the housing crisis, political projections suggest a demand for 300,000 new homes annually. However, Monta Capital's findings reveal a disproportionate decline in grants for major residential projects compared to other developments. Major developments, defined as those comprising 10 or more dwellings with a combined floorspace exceeding 1,000 square meters, experienced an 11.5% reduction in grants in 2022-2023. This decline surpasses that observed in grants for minor developments, which decreased by 7.8%. Notably, major developments have consistently faced steeper declines since 2018.

Thomas Balashev, CEO of Monta Capital, expressed his observations, stating, "It's hard to rationalize declining planning application grants in a country that so desperately needs new homes to be built in huge numbers and at great pace. We should be seeing grants increase as the nation fights to provide the required homes." Balashev highlighted the incongruity of decreasing grants amidst the critical need for increased housing development.

"As we move into election season, we're going to hear more and more housing pledges accompanied by optimistic, albeit unimaginative plans to address the situation," Balashev noted. "But what we need is genuine action. We've seen nothing but negative planning trends since well before the pandemic, so it's important that pressure is placed on all parties to follow through on their promises should they take, or retain, power." Balashev emphasized the call for tangible actions over rhetorical assurances in tackling the persistent challenges in the residential planning domain.