Performance has worsened year-on-year, amid ongoing local planning department capacity constraints
New research from the Home Builders Federation and Paragon Bank Development Finance finds that only half of planning condition applications (50.8%) are determined within the statutory eight-week timeframe, with performance deteriorating year on year and significant disparities between local planning authorities (LPAs).
The findings raise concerns about the impact of delays on housing delivery, including the provision of affordable homes, at a time when the Government is seeking to accelerate home building.
The research also highlights a lack of consistent monitoring of planning performance, making it difficult to identify bottlenecks, hold authorities to account and establish clear expectations for developers.
Planning conditions are requirements set by local authorities when granting planning permission. Developers must meet these conditions at various stages of development and submit information for approval before work can continue – known as discharging conditions. Pre-commencement conditions must be cleared ahead of construction starting on site, therefore development can be delayed despite developers having already secured planning permission causing significant impact to project delivery.
The statutory timeframe for determining applications to discharge conditions is 56 days, unless an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required, in which case the period extends to 16 weeks. In practice, the time taken to secure approval varies considerably between authorities, creating uncertainty over when developers can proceed with construction.
To understand the true scale of the problem, HBF carried out a Freedom of Information (FOI) exercise to establish how many applications to discharge planning conditions had been submitted and how many were determined within the statutory eight-week period over a three-year period.
The research identifies significant delays and substantial variation in the performance of local planning authorities:
- Only half of discharge condition applications (50.8%) were determined within the statutory eight-week timeframe.
- Performance appears to be worsening year on year with the percentage of applications being determined on time falling from 55.6% in 2023/4 to 51.8% in 2024/5
- The median determination time in 2025/26 was 70 days, 25% longer than the statutory target.
- There was significant variation between local authorities, with some local authorities performing strongly against statutory targets (with more than 75% of discharge applications determined on time), while others met the deadline in just 18% of cases.
Although developers of all sizes are affected, the impact is often particularly acute for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) home builders with limited financial resources, fewer sites under construction at any one time and less flexibility to absorb unexpected delays. Additional time spent waiting for approvals can tie up capital, increase financing and holding costs, disrupt construction schedules and undermine the viability of individual developments.
These pressures can also affect SME developers’ ability to bring forward new sites, invest in land or proceed with schemes that are already subject to tight financial margins. Where delays accumulate, projects may be postponed or become more difficult to deliver, constraining the contribution smaller builders can make to overall housing supply.
Slower progress through the planning system can delay the delivery of affordable homes secured through planning obligations, including Section 106 agreements, as well as the wider infrastructure and community benefits associated with new development.
The findings come against a backdrop of persistent staffing shortages across local planning authorities. Previous HBF research shows that 90% of council planning departments are now operating below full capacity, with an estimated 2,660 additional planning officers needed across England and Wales. This is a 20% increase from previous research a year earlier.
Based on the findings of this report, HBF urges the Government to introduce a national framework for tracking and reporting the performance of LPAs in discharging conditions, and to monitor the impact of the introduction of the national default fee on LPA performance. Local planning authorities must also be adequately staffed and resourced and introduce a set of standardised model conditions at pace.
Neil Jefferson, Chief Executive at Home Builders Federation said: “Securing planning permission should be a major step towards getting homes built, yet our research shows that almost half of applications to discharge planning conditions are not being determined within the statutory eight-week timeframe, with performance deteriorating year on year. These delays create unnecessary cost, uncertainty and risk for home builders, particularly smaller businesses without the reserves to absorb them.
"Government’s planning reforms have so far been positive but will not alone unlock the delivery of homes at the pace and scale needed. Addressing the root cause of planning delays must also be part of the solution, including capacity, local planning staffing shortages, and ensuring greater transparency and accountability with consistent reporting so that performance can be properly monitored.”
Neal Moy, Managing Director at Paragon Development Finance said: “Paragon works with hundreds of SME housebuilders nationwide which gives us direct insight into the challenges they face navigating the planning system. Our clients tell us that delays in discharging planning conditions can often be just as significant a barrier as securing planning permission itself, stagnating progress on site and delaying the delivery of new homes.
"There’s no doubt that local authorities are operating under significant resource pressures, but the impact of these delays is being felt across the sector – with SME developers often the hardest hit. From a lender's perspective, a more efficient transparent and predictable planning process is essential to help reduce risk and give us the confidence to lend more, which is why we’re backing HBF’s calls for local planning authorities’ performance on discharging conditions to be closely monitored.”