Planning Applications Statistics 2024/2025: Annual and Quarterly (October 2024 to March 2025)

3. Major Developments

Major developments include applications for developments of housing (50 or more homes or large sites where the main use is for housing), as well as other applications covering areas of development such as minerals, business & industry, waste management, electricity generation, freshwater fish farming, marine finfish farming, marine shellfish farming and other developments.

Classification between local and major developments depends on the particular development type. For example, housing developments are classed as major when the application is for 50 or more dwellings or for a site that exceeds two hectares, whereas electricity generation is classed as major when the capacity of the generating station is or exceeds 20 megawatts.

3.1. All Major Developments

There were 169 major development applications, without a processing agreement, determined in 2024/25 compared to 120 in 2023/24. Those not subject to processing agreements had an average decision time of 37.4 weeks compared to 36.1 weeks in 2023/24.

It is common for some major applications to take a long time to be decided. This will depend on the details and complexity of the development. Long decision times can affect the average (mean). Therefore the mean value of 37.4 weeks is higher than middle or median value of 29.9 weeks because the median is not affected by long decision times.

In 2024/25 there were 127 major development applications with processing agreements (an increase of 20 on the previous year). 61.4.% of these met agreed timescales that had been set between developers and local authorities, slightly higher than the previous year (59.8%). Processing agreements are more likely to be used for major development applications than for local applications.

3.2. Major Housing Developments

Major housing developments are those with 50 or more dwellings or with a site area of 2 hectares or more where the main use is for housing.

There were 58 major housing development applications, without a processing agreement determined in 2024/25, an increase from 18 in the previous year. Those not subject to processing agreements had an average decision time of 44.4 weeks compared to 59.8 weeks in 2023/24 (these mean values can be affected by a few applications with long decision times, however, the middle or median value is not affected and the median value for these major housing applications was lower at 26.9 weeks).

There were 43 major housing development applications with processing agreements and over a half (55.8%) of these met agreed timescales that had been set between developers and local authorities.

3.3. Major Business and Industry Developments

These include construction of a building or structure for any of the following: use as an office, for research and development of products or processes, for any industrial process or for use for storage or as a distribution centre. To be classed as major the gross floor space must exceed 10,000 square metres or the site must exceed 2 hectares.

There were 11 major business and industry development applications determined in 2024/25 a decrease of seven in the previous year (18). Those not subject to processing agreements had an average decision time of 24.8 weeks.

There were 9 major business and industry development applications with processing agreements and over three quarters (88.9%) met the agreed timescales of the council and developer.

3.4. Major Applications by Development Type

The decision time for major housing was 44.4 weeks. His mean value can be affected by few very long applications. The median value which is not affected by outliers is 26.9 weeks.