Wandsworth gets the most planning grants awarded

This was followed by Kensington & Chelsea.

Wandsworth gets the most planning grants awarded

The London Borough of Wandsworth has had the most major and minor planning grants awarded.

By analyasing Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government statistics, estate agency Property Solvers has found of the 228 residential planning decisions in Wandsworth from April to June, 190 (83%) were given the green light.

Ruban Selvanayagam, co-founder of Property Solvers, said: “With developers worried about the impacts of Brexit, a weakening pound and rising construction costs, it’s a financially risky time to be building new homes.

“Many projects are successfully getting planning but not being executed – mainly out of fear of financial disaster.”

Kensington & Chelsea saw 128 of the 142 planning decisions granted (90%). Camden, in North London, also had 123 out of 148 decisions awarded (83%).

However, the outer areas of London saw fewer successful planning applications. Barking and Dagenham, for example, saw just seven out of 25 (28%) planning grants awarded.

Planning committees at Lewisham, Lambeth, Greenwich, Redbridge, Bromley, Richmond, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Kingston, Enfield and Bexley Borough councils granted under 30 planning applications individually.

Selvanayagam added: “Although it’s encouraging to see reasonable levels of successful planning decisions in Central London, it’s perplexing as to why many of the outer areas have seen such a low level of permissions.

“For instance, in Barking and Dagenham, with a population of over 210,000, such a low volume is concerning. I suspect that issues like NIMBYism and a reluctance to build too densely amongst these council decision-makers are coming into play.”

“It’s also worth adding that successful planning decisions do not necessarily mean that projects are actually being carried out.”