Large residential developments of 50 or more units were much more likely to get planning approval than smaller schemes in London, research from Searchland and City Sanctuary found.
Analysis of planning data from 2019 to 2024 showed that 81% of big schemes got approval from local planning authorities.
In comparison, only 69% of projects with 20 to 49 homes were given the green light.
The approval rate dropped to 62% for schemes with 10 to 19 units, and only 54% of the smallest schemes with five to nine homes were approved.
Larger developments also had their planning applications processed more quickly.
Schemes with 50 or more units took an average of six days per unit for decisions, compared to 10 days per unit for 20-49 unit schemes.
Projects with 10 to 19 homes took 19 days per unit on average, while the smallest schemes waited 31 days per unit.
Hugh Gibbs, co-founder of Searchland, said: “We believe passionately in the power of data. Not only can it provide invaluable insight on all aspects of planning and property, but it can also reveal answers to the most important questions, such as, what needs to be done in order to facilitate the increased rate of housebuilding so desperately required in this country?
And while the answer to that is, of course, complex and wide-ranging, this piece of analysis reveals that one answer is surely to look more favourably on SME developers rather than focussing purely on the efforts of a handful of huge housebuilders?
Yes, the larger housebuilders can deliver homes at a much faster rate, but they’re also uninterested in utilising the tens of thousands of smaller plots of land that also need to be utilised if the government is going to get anywhere close to achieving its ambitious housebuilding targets.”
Gibbs added: “We are, therefore, encouraged by the government’s recent announcement that SMEs will benefit from ‘simpler rules and faster decisions’ from planning committees, but it remains to be seen if this is delivered.”
City Sanctuary said: “If you’re an SME developer delivering, you’re playing the game on hard mode compared to larger developers.
“This isn’t a level playing field. It’s structural bias. These results are a wake-up call for policymakers, planners and anyone who wants to diversify housing delivery:
“If, as a nation, we want to break the overdependency on volume housebuilders for our housing delivery, SMEs need planning policy that fits their delivery model, not one reverse-engineered for volume housebuilders. SMEs are not just boutique distractions. They are the creative, local, adaptive arm of our delivery system.”
City Sanctuary added: “We are making a call for structural equity so that smaller players can compete without being structurally penalised for wishing to stay small or local.”
