A report from Searchland found that certain local planning authorities (LPAs) in Britain are taking longer to make planning decisions.
Richmondshire LPA had the longest average decision time in 2024, taking 415 days.
The Brecon Beacons National Park followed closely with 400 days, and South Somerset averaged 398 days.
Other LPAs in the top 10 for longest decision times included Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, and Liverpool.
Carlisle LPA showed the largest increase in time required to make planning decisions, up by 163 days over the past year.
Broadland LPA followed with a 130-day increase, while Brecon Beacons National Park and South Norfolk also saw significant increases.
Hugh Gibbs, co-founder of Searchland, said: “Earlier this year, the Government pledged to implement sweeping reforms to help cut the red tape from the planning process, improving the speed at which planning decisions are approved.
“It’s clear that such reforms are badly needed as around half of all planning authorities have seen the time taken to make a planning decision increase on an annual basis.
“If Labour has any chance of hitting the ambitious housing delivery targets set last year, addressing the initial bottleneck caused by the planning decision process is vital.”
