Lift in planning permits helping buyers to get on housing ladder
NEW PLANNING permission approvals soared by almost a third in the last year, according to figures out yesterday from the Home Builders’ Federation (HBF).
The positive figures could be a relief for those struggling to get on the housing ladder, indicating that supply may at last be beginning to catch up with demand for property.
However, building will still be slow as the group warned the permissions often come with onerous conditions which delay the start of work on the sites.
In the third quarter 44,251 permissions were granted in England over 826 sites – up 31 per cent on the same period of last year.
In the year to September, 166,978 permissions were granted, up 41 per cent from the lowest level in 2011.
“This is the latest indicator to show how the industry is looking to quickly increase output,” said the HBF’s boss Stewart Baseley, adding that local authorities could help by not attaching onerous conditions which delay planning permissions.