Total residential planning applications dropped to their lowest annual total in a decade in 2022, according to analysis from Searchland.

The study also found that the proportion of applications that were successful versus those that were rejected hit its lowest total since 2008. 

In 2022 an estimated total of 60,986 residential planning applications were either approved, rejected or are still awaiting a decision. Not only was this the lowest annual total seen since 2012 (59,013), but it marked a 5% annual decline versus the 64,419 seen in 2021. 

The drop was also the fifth consecutive annual decline, with total applications having fallen every year since 2018. 

Of the 45,182 residential planning applications seen in 2022 that were either approved or declined, 32,956 were approved versus 12,226 that were rejected. 

As a result, planning application approvals accounted for 73% of the total versus the 27% that were rejected. 

The 2022 success rate of 73% was down from 75% over the previous three years and was also the lowest success rate seen since 2008 when, in the midst of the financial crisis, just 68% of all applications were approved.

Mitchell Fasanya, co-founder and CEO of Searchland, commented: “It will be interesting to see how this trend materialises over the coming year, but the housing crisis is going nowhere and we need to encourage more homes to be built, not less, which starts with planning approval.”