Proactivity is key to overcoming protracted planning

It’s no secret that the UK isn’t building enough homes. Yet the latest government figures highlight just how severe the shortfall remains.?

Between July and September 2024, planning applications and approvals fell by 7% and 6% year-on-year.

December’s S&P Global construction purchasing managers’ index recorded the lowest level of construction activity in six months. These figures aren’t an anomaly—they reflect the long-standing bottlenecks in the planning system and the wider market slowdown that continues to restrict housing delivery.

Rising population growth, affordability constraints, and economic uncertainty have made the problem worse.

The UK’s housing shortfall isn’t just a crisis - it’s a systemic failure that’s been decades in the making.

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The reality of planning delays

Talk to any developer, and they’ll tell you that getting planning approval is harder than ever. Local planning departments are stretched, under-resourced, and increasingly slow to respond.

The delays aren’t just frustrating—they create real financial risk for developers, particularly SMEs.

This is a process that should work. Planning officers have a critical role in shaping the built environment, and done well, the system allows good development to go ahead while ensuring local needs are met.

But that’s not the reality developers are facing. Too many planning officers are underpaid, overworked, and leaving for better-paid roles in the private sector, while local authorities rely more on junior staff and external consultants.

This leads to long processing times, inconsistent decision-making, and a growing backlog of applications.

I’ve heard from brokers and developers who say that even simple applications are now dragging on for months longer than expected.

Planning officers are working remotely, and rather than issuing timely decisions, developers are being asked for extensions to determination periods.

It’s hard to overstate the impact of these delays—not just on the projects themselves but on the wider housing supply.

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Why SME developers feel it the most

It’s the smaller developers who feel this the hardest. I speak to SME developers regularly, and the same challenge comes up time and again—they can’t afford to sit on sites waiting for planning approvals.

Unlike the big housebuilders, who can pause developments and wait for conditions to improve, SMEs don’t have that luxury.

Most operate on tighter margins, meaning a planning delay can put an entire pipeline on hold.

One developer told me recently that a four-month delay on planning approval meant he had to push back another site acquisition, delaying two projects rather than one. These knock-on effects can put huge pressure on cash flow and make it harder for smaller developers to compete in a market already stacked against them.

This is why proactive developers are the ones getting ahead.

The best SME developers I speak to are researching sites thoroughly, engaging with planning officers early, and ensuring they don’t give local authorities any excuse to delay their applications.

Those who stay ahead of the process—chasing up determination dates, submitting rock-solid applications, and keeping their funding partners informed—are the ones keeping their projects moving.

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Finance that works with, not against, the developer

Beyond planning, the other thing I hear from brokers and developers is that consistency from lenders is just as important as site viability.

Too many times, we’ve seen lenders scale back or withdraw from the market when things get challenging. That’s when developers need stability the most.

Developers tell me they’re looking for lenders who won’t move the goalposts mid-project, won’t suddenly reduce leverage, and won’t disappear when market conditions tighten.

The reality is that planning delays can stretch out project timelines, and finance needs to reflect that.

Developers who’ve secured land and are waiting on planning approvals can’t afford funding structures that are too rigid.

Bridging finance, acquisition loans, and development exit solutions all have a role to play in keeping projects on track despite planning delays.

We’ve always believed that development finance should work in step with developers—not create additional obstacles.

The feedback we hear from brokers is that certainty and consistency matter more than ever, particularly when market conditions are unpredictable.

That’s why we focus on structuring funding that reflects real-world project timelines rather than rigid lending criteria that don’t account for planning delays.

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Delivering for the long term

The planning system isn’t going to change overnight.

Government reforms have been talked about for years, but without proper resourcing, meaningful change is slow.

In the meantime, the developers who are thriving are the ones who stay proactive—understanding local planning policies, engaging early, structuring strong applications, and ensuring they have financial backing that won’t let them down.

?The process may be slow, but for those who stay ahead of it, the opportunity is still there.

?Read the original story here.