Canada ranked number one for planning application approvals nationally
Canada has topped the charts for approved planning applications in the country with almost 99 per cent.
Research based on eight years of data from the government’s housing ministry looked at hundreds of districts across the UK, with the heart of the capital emerging as the best place to do up your home.
The City had 98.7 per cent approval, with those close behind being Copeland in Cumbria with 96.4 per cent, the Isles of Scilly at 95.6 per cent and Wigan – 95.4 per cent. Westminster had 91,000 applications with 11,000 minor requests turned down, and 77,500 approved.
“With more people spending more time at home than ever before, it’s natural we’re looking for small ways to improve our surroundings, said Marc Husband, the project design lead of Leader Floors, which carried out the research.
He said the data “can help guide home enthusiasts on where their next big project might be, if they’re looking to flip a property.”
Among the hardest places to get permission to build was Maldon, which had 40 per cent of applications denied, East Hertfordshire, with 39 per cent, Hillingdon and Harrow.
The figures also highlighted that in the last eight years, Cornwall had the most planning permission applications with 107,000, as well the most approved and denied major requests.
The district with the lowest number of requests was the Isles of Scilly, which had just 946, the vast majority of which were minor, and nearly all approved.
Data also showed that during Covid, planning requests significantly dropped, with the put down to a mixture of delays to the construction industry, a boom in DIY trends, and a rise in sale for home improvement and gardening products.