"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"
- Hugh Gibbs - Searchland
New analysis has revealed that large residential developments are significantly more likely to receive planning approval in London than smaller schemes, a disparity that has prompted calls for reform and raised concerns over ‘structural bias’ against SME developers.
Data from Searchland, analysed by City Sanctuary, examined planning applications across all London boroughs between 2019 and 2024. The findings indicate that schemes with 50 or more units secured approval 81% of the time. In comparison, projects of 20–49 units had a 69% approval rate, while those with 10–19 units saw only 62% of applications granted. Schemes involving 5–9 units had the lowest success rate, at just 54%.
Larger developments were also processed more quickly. Schemes with 50+ units were handled at an average rate of six days per unit. For mid-sized projects (20–49 units), the average was 10 days per unit. Schemes with 10–19 units took 19 days per unit on average, while the smallest projects (5–9 units) faced the slowest pace, at 31 days per unit.
“We believe passionately in the power of data," said Hugh Gibbs, co-founder of Searchland. "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?
He continued, "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. 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 added, “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.
"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.”
