The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has released the latest planning figures for England, which revealed 61,500 decisions were granted between January and March.

This is the equivalent to 87% of all decisions.

During this period, 90,700 applications for planning permission were made which was 6% more than the first quarter in 2024.

Of these, 70,900 were decided upon or 10% fewer than the year before.

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Overall, in the year to March 2025, 265,800 applications were approved which was 7% lower than the preceding year.

Commenting on these findings, Hampshire Trust Bank managing director of development finance Neil Leitch reiterated that planning remained the “biggest obstacle” with more support required for planning departments nationwide.

"We talk a lot about reform, but what developers need is delivery,” said Neil.

“That means local authorities equipped with the people, skills and systems to make timely, consistent decisions.

“Until then, even the best policy will struggle to translate into real-world impact.”