In October to December last year, 149,000 applications were received, 13% higher than the same period in 2001 and the highest final-quarter total since 1988. Statistics from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister do not show how many were housing applications.
The figures come two months after councils received their first planning delivery grants, sharing £50m from a pot worth £350m over three years.
Kelvin McDonald, director of policy and resources at the Royal Town Planning Institute, warned: "The rise will stretch departments further. Until planning delivery grant came along, the resources available certainly hadn't risen by 13%. It will put more pressure on processing applications in the required time, when the objective is to get the highest quality development we can. Quality may suffer."
The planning delivery grant is designed to help councils implement the Communities Plan. It is calculated according to councils' performance against benchmark targets for processing applications, with extra funding available in areas with acute housing demand. In February, councils received a minimum of £75,000, rising to £400,000 for the nine best-performers.
"We're putting more money in so officers can spend more time agonising over major decisions and less on dormer windows," said an ODPM spokesman.
However, the money is not ring-fenced for planning, and McDonald reports anecdotal evidence that some councils are spending the cash elsewhere.
He said: "The figures are another reminder that they ought to direct resources to planning, not other pet projects. The money needs to be used carefully."
Robin Tetlow, managing director of Tetlow King Planning, warned that money alone was not the answer. "There's a huge shortfall of skilled staff, and problems with fixed pay scales. In general, councils need to give more priority to planning.
Source
Housing Today
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