Planning crisis: Rural communities wait years to get building, CLA analysis reveals

Rural businesses facing lengthy delays to get planning permission to enable investment and build homes

Written by Mike Sims. First published on 17 Mar 2025.

FOI responses reveal councils are taking years, rather than months, to approve planning applications – stalling rural growth and housing targets
Some cases have been stuck in system since 2007 with many councils approving less than half of projects
The Country Land and Business Association calls for urgent reform and funding to combat “crisis” in planning system, as new polling reveals majority of rural communities back planning reform.

Rural businesses in England are waiting years – and even decades – to get planning permission to enable investment and build homes, according to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests compiled by the CLA.

The CLA approached 38 councils in England where over half the population lives in rural areas. In total, 35 responded.

The findings show:

Lengthy delays: Eight councils exceeded the government’s target time to issue decisions in 2023, with delays stretching from weeks to years.
Years-long backlogs: Fourteen councils are sitting on applications from before 2020, with some dating back to 2007.
Low approval rates: Several councils are approving less than 50% of projects, putting businesses and housebuilding targets at risk.

'In crisis'

Victoria Vyvyan, President of Country Land and Business Association, said:

“Our planning system is in crisis and it’s stagnating growth in the countryside.

“Rural businesses could grow, provide much needed housing and employment, and be nimble and fast-moving, but they’re being hampered by a planning system that’s anything but. It would be unheard of to make a tech company wait a decade to innovate, rural businesses should be no different.

“The productivity of rural areas lags 14% and that is in no small part due to planning delays and refusals. Yet the latest revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework offer little to fix this.

“Labour is scrambling to find economic growth, but the opportunity is right here. Let’s clear the backlogs and create a planning system that powers rural growth.”

Lengthy delays

Councils are legally required to make decisions on minor planning applications within 56 days and major developments within 91 days. Yet, nearly half of the 18 councils that shared their average response times failed to meet these targets in 2023 – holding back innovation and growth in the countryside.

Dorset Council reports averaging 1,372 days (3.75 years) to issue a decision on applications, while Babergh District Council, Mid Suffolk District Council and West Lindsey District Council took 345 days, 381 days and 170 days alike for major applications.

Elsewhere, South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council average 105 days while Torridge District Council averages 107 days for minor and major applications.

To alleviate delays, the CLA is calling on government to expand permitted development rights to make it easier for businesses to diversify. Additionally, it’s campaigning for the introduction of “permission in principle” for rural economic development. This would reduce the huge upfront application costs and therefore mitigate the financial impact of delayed or rejected applications.

Five-year backlogs

Nearly half of councils are still sitting on cases from before 2020, including some stretching back decades.

In North Norfolk, an application to build 94 homes and a community centre, submitted eight years ago, is still yet to be approved despite continued back and forth. Similarly, Mid Devon is also yet to approve an ongoing proposal for 90 new homes submitted in 2019.

Even smaller projects have faced delays. A 2007 application for a recreational fishing lake in South Norfolk dragged on for seven years before seemingly stalling in 2014. Elsewhere, a 2017 application for an office building in Cambridge was left in limbo after two and a half years of back and forth.

To prevent backlogs, the CLA is calling on government to invest £25m to hire an extra planning officer for every local authority. This would speed up decisions and ensure councils can deliver overdue reform to the planning system. Simultaneously, it’s campaigning for better training of local authorities on rural issues to ensure the planning system delivers for the countryside and its needs.

Low approval rates

Some councils are rejecting nearly half of all applications, from diversification projects to infrastructure development, putting local economies and businesses at risk.

Central Bedfordshire approved just 50% of projects between August 2023 and August 2024, while West Lindsey District council approved 61%.

Meanwhile, government statistics show alarmingly low approval rates for new homes. Maldon approved just 44% of major development applications from January 2023 – June 2024, Woking approved 29%, and Wychavon 57%. In fact, 18 councils rejected one in four major housing projects (10 or more homes), putting government housing targets under threat.

The CLA is calling on government to cut red tape to support the development of a small number of homes in a large number of villages – providing lifelong housing for young and old alike and creating thriving communities.

Appetite for reform

As FOI data reveals the problems inherent in the planning system, new polling reveals widespread demand for change.

A Survation poll of England’s 100 most rural constituencies, commissioned by the Country Land and Business Association, reveals the majority (56%) believe reforming the planning system would stimulate growth in rural areas. Likewise, 59% believe the government needs to build more affordable homes.

Member case studies

Peter Hogg, farmer and rural business owner in the North East, said:

“The planning system is crippling businesses like mine. We had a farmhouse I wanted to convert into a B&B to help diversify our income. But the application dragged on for over a year due to a dispute over adding a small sunroom, which should have been straightforward given it was replacing a previous extension we’d demolished.

“The delay meant we lost a full season and over £30,000 in revenue. And when permission was finally granted, it took just two weeks and £800 to build the sunroom – four times less than what we paid in planning costs.

“If businesses like mine are to succeed, government must cut the red tape that’s stunting our growth and livelihoods. Beyond the financial impact, the mental toll is profound. Many perceived problems could be sorted in 20 minutes over a cup of tea.”

Angus Forrest, rural landowner in Essex, said:

"I’ve been trying to build much-needed homes for years, but the process is too slow and costly. The Parish Council identified the site as the best place for development in 2008 at the beginning of the local plan process. It was not until 2022 that the local plan was adopted allocating the site for 30 houses, yet I’m still nowhere near to breaking ground despite years of pre-planning enquiries and the collation of specialist reports.

“I’ve spent £30,000 so far, with at least another £70,000 in fees ahead - before a single home is built. At every stage, delays and bureaucratic processes add time and expense even though the site was subject to extreme scrutiny and assessment to have been allocated in the first place.

"Rural communities need affordable homes but delivering them remains a challenge. If the government wants to ‘get Britain building,’ it must reform the planning system to make it easier for landowners to build a small number of quality homes in a large number of villages.”