The planning portal reported a 23% rise in the number of planning applications submitted in October compared to 2019. This was followed by a 32% rise in November with 59,044 planning applications submitted through the Planning Portal.
Perhaps unsurprisingly householder applications were up by just over 50%; no doubt as a consequence of us all spending more time at home and looking at the same four square walls! The Planning Portal explains, there would usually be “an overall reduction in the number of applications submitted during the wind down to Christmas … … A 51 per cent increase not only bucks this trend but far surpasses anything we would have expected.”
Again unsurprisingly, the portal also reported an increase in prior notification applications for change of use from office to residential under the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015, as amended, as well as by means of full applications. Chapman Lily Planning has also witnessed this trend and anticipate that it will continue during Q1 of 2021. Brett Spiller, Director at Chapman Lily Planning added ‘… we are delighted to see high levels of activity and a wealth of innovation, as property owners and developers look to realise the full potential of existing, often underutilised, buildings. Given the embodied energy in our existing building stock and the need to rejuvenate town centres and deliver new homes quickly, conversion presents an immediate opportunity. We are also seeing the first generation of ‘right to rise’ permissions coming to fruition; albeit the detailed provisions and considerations set out in the order require very careful consideration and result in high attrition rates – so expert advice is essential’.
For more information on opportunities for change of use or building upwards please contact us.