Planning consents have fallen by nearly a fifth since October, report finds

Planning consents have fallen by nearly a fifth since October and have shown no improvement over the past year, according to new industry analysis.

Data provider Glenigan said the number of schemes receving detailed consent were down 17% during the three months to the end of January compared to the preceding three months.

Project starts have also nearly halved since October and stand a third lower than a year ago amid continuing economic disruption, the the firm said in its latest report on industry trends.

Approvals for schemes worth more than £100m were up by more than a third, however, while the total value of major contract awards increased by almost a fifth on 12 months ago.

Glenigan economic director Allan Wilen said nervousness in the economy is likely to see builders adopting a “cautious and retrenched approach, pushing back start dates until the economic landscape looks less hostile”. 

“Rising mortgage rates, falling real wages and poor consumer confidence is likely to cause a further downturn in activity, but that’s not all. 

“Many built environment professionals are still getting to grips with recently introduced regulations, particularly Part L of the Future Homes Standard, and the enforcement of the Fire Safety Act. 

“No doubt this will also set back residential starts for the foreseeable future as developers seek to comply with tougher specification requirements.”

Residential construction starts remained depressed in January, falling 26% on the preceding three months to stand 38% lower than a year ago, while private housing was 28% lower than in October and 34% lower than 12 months ago.

Social housing has also fared badly, with starts dropping by a fifth since October and nearly halving over the past year.

Most other sectors also performed weakly, particularly industrial project starts, which plunged by more than a third since October and were down by 45% in a year.

Retail starts have fallen by 29% since October and were down a third in the past 12 months, although healthcare, hotel and leisure project starts showed an increase of 16% since October, the report said.