Home improvements requiring planning permission has grown by 6%

According to Barbour ABI’s Home Improvers of Great Britain 2017 report, there has been a 6% rise in home improvement requiring planning permission.

London planning authorities received more than 100,000 applications in 2016, with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea as being the number one spot for home investment. However, planning applications increased by 14% in the East of England, which showed the largest regional growth. 

According to research by internet retailer showerstoyou, Kensington and Chelsea had 6.8 home improvement (planning) applications for every 100 private homes, followed by Westminster with 6.5 and Cambridge with 6.5.

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The greatest rise was in Cambridge which two years’ ago just made it into the top 70 areas of home improvements and now is only just behind Westminster.

However areas which had the least number of planning applications were Blackpool with 0.4 for every 100 private homes, followed by West Dunbartonshire with 0.5 and Stoke-on-Trent with 0.6.

Showerstoyou also conducted a UK homeowner survey, which found 68% looked on websites to find inspiration but 45% admitted to choosing the cheapest home improvement route available.

However, nearly a quarter (23%) chose building an extension as the home improvement they would most like to carry out.

In terms of looking to buy a new home, 77% claim they would not be put off buying a property with half believing the kitchen is the room they pay the most attention to on house viewings.

For the bathroom, homeowners ranked the size of the bathroom, followed by the functionality and efficiency of plumbing as the most important aspects.