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July 2023 - Construction

Survey reveals the impact of planning permission roadblocks and the serious problems they can cause: New research by property data firm, Searchland, has found that a quarter (25%) of investors have been denied planning permission after requesting to carry out an extension or conversion on a property they have recently bought. According to Searchland’s data, 24% of applications for new-build residential schemes of one or more units were refused over the last five years. 

Searchland analysed over 175,000 planning applications from 2016-2021 for its research, submitted by 512 property investors. The investors surveyed owned two or more properties each in the UK – with the vast majority owning under five in total. A crucial finding from this research was that 2 in 5 (40%) said that the viability of obtaining planning permission for their projects is a big roadblock when looking for a new property investment.

However, almost half the investors polled (44%) stated their intention to invest in a property or area of land in the coming year, despite any hurdles they may face.

The research also found that 44% of investors are looking to convert commercial properties into residential units. This may be due to many workers in the UK now working from home or on hybrid contracts resulting in many commercial buildings and offices being left empty and unused. 

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