Growth in planning applications

June 14, 2021

We know from enquiries received here at Aworth Survey Consultants, that local planning departments are particularly busy at the moment and our experience is confirmed by official figures. 

According to Planning Portal, March 2021 saw the highest number of applications ever submitted online in a single month. This continues the pattern of the last six months. Total application submissions in March reached 77,289 – 22% more than in February, itself a record month. The South East saw the largest number of applications submitted in a single month, at nearly 14,500, a 58% increase on March 2020. 

Planning applications slowed down when we went into lockdown initially but, since then, being forced to stay at home has changed our perception of where we live. For many, homes suddenly weren’t just somewhere to sleep and eat a few meals – they became our whole live, as well as being an office and, for long stretches, a school room.

While lockdown restrictions are lifting, it is likely that more of us will continue working from home, for at least part of the week, so we are searching for ways to make our home office space more user-friendly. We also want to entertain more at home, while many are looking to revamp their gardens too, as an extension of that space. 

Many of us also discovered new hobbies during lockdown. In addition to gardening, people were forced to cook a little more and many found they actually enjoyed it, while exercise became more key, with spare bedrooms and sheds becoming home gyms and yoga studios. All of this has led to a growth in planning applications to extend living areas, such as kitchens and to add home offices – whether onto an existing property or in the garden.  

This increase in planning applications has led to a growth in enquiries into a number of our teams at Aworth, including services such as measured building surveys, monitoring surveys and legal mapping. Our MAPS@Aworth Ordnance Survey Mapping and Data Centre team has also been busy. 

If you are busy making home improvements and suspect that you will need planning permission or you require a map of your grounds for any plans, then do get in touch. Through MAPS@Aworth, we can supply up-to-date OS mapping data, planning application maps and historical OS mapping, together with a large range of other professional map products.

If you’re not entirely sure what you need, then we can help. Using our bespoke service, you’ll be able to discuss your precise requirements with our experienced advisers to get the right extent of mapping, available in a range of scales and page sizes. 

To find out more, call 01825 768379 or email maps@aworth.co.uk

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