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In the midst of London’s housing supply crisis, a new report by the Built Environment Communications Group (BECG), reveals a 50% divergence in planning approval rates across the 33 London Borough planning committees.

The report tracked approval rates among the 33 planning committees in the 12 months to April 2019.

The research highlighted:

  • Some London boroughs – including Harrow, Kingston-upon-Thames and Tower Hamlets – had a 100% approval record during this period, whereas just 50% of applications were approved in Bromley and Lewisham.
  • The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea was little better than the bottom two performers, managing to approve 57% of applications.
  • In contrast, Brent, Ealing, Hackney and Wandsworth each approved 97% of their major applications – 40% higher than the Royal Borough’s approval rate.

The research also highlighted the steady decline in the number of applications coming forward for decision, with applications reported to councillors for a decision sharply down in the second half of the year:

  • Westminster has seen an almost 50% drop in major applications while in Kingston-upon-Thames almost half the planning committees across the full year were cancelled due to a lack of any applications being ready for decision.
  • Lewisham’s Strategic Planning Committee that meets to consider the biggest applications in the Borough only had one application before it in the entire year – initially refused, before being reconsidered and approved.

The report provides food for thought in the run-up to next year’s London Mayoral elections, with the housing supply pipeline appearing to be in decline and many Boroughs, mainly in outer London, struggling to approve the level of development required.

BECG Director and Head of London, Max Camplin, said: “Our committee research comes at an important time, following May 2018’s local elections, and ahead of next year’s London Mayoral elections.

“Across London there remains an acute housing shortage, and many homes are unaffordable to residents, so we expect planning to be a prominent topic debated by the candidates.

“However, while being vital for London’s future social and economic success, delivery of housing across the capital is still very much dependent on the postcode location.

“The risk profile based on our performance data should give pause for a major developer if they are considering investing in one of the clusters of the worst performing London Boroughs.

“Key issues continue to revolve around delivery of affordable housing contributions by developers, the provision of supporting infrastructure, design and height – all of which accounted for the failure of some of the most notable major applications in the past year.”