In analysis of internal data, the development site sourcing specialists found that this was the worst average delay among all local authorities in Great Britain.

The second was Brecon Beacons National Park where delays average at 399.7 days.

South Somerset took the third spot with an average delay of 397.7 days.

Though delays had worsened in some locations between 2023 and 2024 data, overall there wasn’t much movement at a top level.

The average number of days before a planning permission decision in Great Britain was 167.8 days in 2023 and 167.6 days in 2024.

Within this average, some local authorities’ delays either significantly improved or worsened between 2023 and 2024.

Carlisle’s local planning authority saw its delays worsen by the biggest amount, by 162.6 days to 296.6 in 2024.

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Broadland recorded the second worst increase with 129.8 days, and Brecon Beacons National Park was third with 124.2 days.

In total eight local authorities recorded worsening average delays on planning decisions by over 100 days between 2023 and 2024.

Conversely, 10 local authorities managed to improve their delays on such decisions by over 100 days during the same timeframe.

The most improved was Knowsley, where decisions required an average of 227.5 days in 2024 - 158.9 days better than in 2023.

In light of this data, Searchland co-founder Hugh Gibbs said it was clear recently announced planning decision reforms by the government are “badly needed”.

“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,” added Hugh.