WINCHESTER planners are more likely to approve an application for a house than  any other council in England.

More than nine out of ten applications are approved, according to new figures.

The research, carried out by Swift Direct Blinds, has analysed the areas with the most and least new housing builds, the areas with the most and least successful planning applications, and the cities searching the most for renovation services.

Its research shows that in Winchester 1,039 housing plans were submitted, with 1,015 granted, a success rate of (97.69 per cent) in the 12 months to March 2023. Fifth was Havant with a 96.7 per cent success rate, with 557 approvals for 576 applications.

At the other end of the scale, Southend-on-Sea has the lowest success rate in the UK at 76.94 per cent.

Researchers at Swift Direct Blinds also examined the number of submitted and granted planning applications from the ONS for the year ending March 2023.

A city council spokesperson said: “The council has worked hard to ensure that our planning guidance and policies are practical, transparent and easy to follow which means that, from the start, developers know exactly what kinds of application are likely to be approved.

“Our successful pre-application service, the clear policies within our Local Plan and supplementary planning documents, our regular Agents Forum, and our overall approach of working to find solutions on planning applications have all been devised to ensure a high quality of applications, which reduces planning delays, expedites the delivery of new homes, and ensures new developments serve the district.”

A recent planning committee heard details of the appeals that have been made against decisions and enforcement notices.

They reveal a high success rate for the planners.

Between October and December 2023 there were 13 appeals of which only one was successful and ten were dismissed, a success rate for the city council of 77 per cent. One was part allowed/part dismissed and another was ruled out of time.

For enforcement appeals for the year  January 1 2023 to December 31 2023 there were 17 actions. None were allowed, 12 were dismissed and five were withdrawn.

 

 

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You can view the full research here: https://www.swiftdirectblinds.co.uk/inspiration/renovating-regions