Planning permission boosts values by up to 52%

James Forrester, managing director of Barrows and Forrester, said: “One defining trend of the pandemic has been our push to buy bigger homes and this has been a driving factor behind such steep levels of house price growth."

Planning permission boosts values by up to 52%

The house price premium associated with planning permission properties reached up to 52% on average by September 2021, according to research by Barrows and Forrester.

 

The biggest boost was in Bradford, where a home with planning was found to sell for 52% more than those without, equating to a £81,789 increase.

Both Birmingham and Bournemouth had a similar difference of 51%, and were home to the highest premium in a monetary sense, at £106,674 and £159,049 respectively.

Liverpool (47%), Newcastle (36%), Sunderland (36%), Southampton (24%), Sheffield (32%), Leicester (21%) and Leeds (17%) also made up the top 10 cities where planning permission helped boost house prices.

However, in Plymouth and Nottingham, pre-granted planning permission only brought a 1% premium, while in Swansea it was just 2%.

James Forrester, managing director of Barrows and Forrester, said: “One defining trend of the pandemic has been our push to buy bigger homes and this has been a driving factor behind such steep levels of house price growth.

"Of course, not everyone has been able to stretch their budget and so upsizing their existing home has been the next best thing.

"However, simply gaining planning permission for your property can also be beneficial when looking to sell, even if you haven’t actually had the work done.

"It signals to a buyer that there is greater potential than the existing bricks and mortar and that an extension to the property can be legally achieved.

"Not only this, but it gives them a head start and allows them to avoid the often protracted process of gaining planning permission in the first place.”