If you’re in the business of developing land, you’ll already know that our planning system is profoundly influenced by local politics. So, knowing who the key players are in each council can make navigating the whole process a little easier.
We’ve heard this feedback from our customers, and we know it from our own experience in the industry.
Why is political summary data important for developers?
Knowing who your councillors are, what their party alignment is, who the leaders of the Council and the Development Management Committee(s) are (and which wards these people represent), can be vital pieces of information.
Particularly, if you’ve been promoting a site through a Local Plan in one of the 50+ council areas that have announced policy delays in the past 12 months as a result of local politicians trying to predict the outcome of national policy changes.
Or if you’ve been taking a site through planning, suffered a lengthy and protracted negotiation with planning officers to enable them to take a recommendation for approval to the planning committee, only to have this recommendation overturned by the local members on the committee.
Having access to this information when you’re at the site-search stage, or when you’re looking at development feasibility, will help you get a better understanding of the stakeholders that you’ll have to deal with, and the hurdles that they might place in your way.
How can LandTech help?
We have teamed up with Cratus Communications to provide you with a summary of political information relating to the planning authority that your site is located in.
You can find the political summary within our LPA datasheets, alongside information on average application determination periods, approval rates, appeal overturn rates, 5YHLS figures, Housing Delivery Test results, and adopted/emerging policy information.
If you need further information on the local politics in that area you’ll be able to contact Cratus directly for more bespoke assistance.
The London information is live now and we’ll be rolling this out across the country in the coming weeks. Watch this space…
What does the data show us?
Having access to knowledge about key players in the local political scene will help you make decisions about the relative risk associated with your site.
If your site is within a ward that is controlled by a minority party within the Council then, assuming you’re coming to the committee with a recommendation for approval, you might get an easier ride when it comes to the debate and decision. Conversely, if you have a site that is within the council leader’s ward, or the chair of the planning committee’s ward, then you may find yourself facing a little more scrutiny at committee.
Knowing this detail up front will help you plan for the committee decision stage of your planning application.
By accessing our Report Hub and searching for our LPA datasheets, you will be able to see how the local politics in your area will affect your site and its planning permission.