How data is reshaping decisions, delivery and outcomes in the planning system

Josh Rains, Managing Director, Landmark Geodata

“Our latest analysis of planning application data shows a system under pressure.”

In our Data Insights Report: Planning Applications 2025, we show that application volumes fell to their lowest level in over a decade, with just under 690,000 applications submitted nationwide and the rate dropping to 995 applications per 100,000 people – the lowest recorded in the dataset.

Activity has not collapsed, but it has become more selective, more cautious, and more uneven across regions and project types. At the same time, policy ambition has intensified, with renewed focus on accelerating housing delivery, increasing density and unlocking land.

This gap between policy ambition and on-the-ground activity is where better data can help the industry understand risk, prioritise viable opportunities and move with greater confidence.

From volume to viability

The story of 2025 is not just about fewer applications; it is also about a shift in behaviour.

Alterations and conversions now account for the largest share of planning activity, representing 39.8% of all applications, its highest level in over a decade, while new build applications have continued to decline, falling 5.5% year-on-year to 198,240 submissions (compared with 209,862 in 2024). Extensions, once dominant during the pandemic, have also dropped significantly.

In simple terms, the market is adapting rather than expanding. Developers and landowners are prioritising lower-risk, more viable schemes over large-scale delivery.

This shift has important implications for how opportunities are assessed.  In a more constrained market, the priority is not simply finding sites where development could happen, but understand which are genuinely viable.  This means identifying constrains, risk and feasibility earlier, before significant time and resource are committed.  

A reactive system under strain

The planning process and preparing of sites is complex and one of the most difficult challenges can be the reactive nature of responding to challenges. Constraints are often uncovered late, risks emerge during the decision-making stage, and outcomes are shaped by incomplete or fragmented information.

That approach is increasingly misaligned with the demands now placed on the system.

Planning reform is pushing towards greater speed, consistency and certainty. But without better visibility of risk and context earlier in the lifecycle, delays and inefficiencies simply shift rather than disappear. This is where data begins to change the equation.

Earlier insight, better outcomes

The increasing availability and digitalisation of geospatial and planning data is enabling a more proactive model, one where decisions can be shaped earlier, not just judged later.

Take flood risk as an example. While approval rates for development in flood zones remain relatively high, many regions still approve more than 80% of applications. However, outcomes vary significantly across the country, from 77.9% in the East of England to over 90% in Wales, highlighting how local decision-making can diverge even within a broadly permissive national picture

Without spatial insight, an understanding of how location, environment and surrounding factors influence a site, these patterns only become visible once an application is already underway. With it, feasibility can be assessed at the outset, reducing the likelihood of late-stage redesign, delay or refusal.

The same principle applies more broadly. Whether it is environmental constraints, infrastructure capacity or local policy interpretation, the earlier these factors are understood, the more efficient and predictable the planning process becomes.

Making place measurable

Planning is no longer just about whether development can happen. It is about whether it creates places that contribute to people’s lives, a more place-based approach that considers how people live day to day, from access to amenities and services to the supporting infrastructure that underpins thriving communities

This is where data is enabling a step change.

By quantifying access to transport, healthcare, education and other amenities, it becomes possible to assess place-making in a more rigorous, evidence-based way. The data shows clear variation across the UK. For example, some local authorities saw no public libraries within a 5km radius of large approved developments, while others benefit from dense, well-connected infrastructure.

These differences have real implications. Poorly supported locations can place pressure on infrastructure and attract opposition, while well-connected areas align more closely with policy priorities around density and sustainable growth.

Data allows these dynamics to be understood upfront, rather than debated after the fact.

A more data-driven planning system

Alongside changes in market behaviour, the planning system itself is becoming more rules-based and data-oriented.

Policy direction increasingly emphasises consistency, clearer frameworks for decision-making, and a stronger presumption in favour of development in suitable locations. This reflects a broader shift from the ‘art’ of planning towards a more quantifiable ‘science’.

However, data alone is not enough.

The effectiveness of this shift still depends on the alignment of people, process and technology. Planning authorities need the capacity and skills to interpret data effectively. Processes must embed data at the earliest stages. Furthermore, systems must support integration, not fragmentation.

Without that alignment, the benefits of data will remain uneven.

From insight to delivery

The data highlights a critical point that the constraint in planning is not simply decision-making, but decision confidence.

In 2025, 67.2% of applications were granted, yet delivery remains subdued. The challenge lies earlier: in identifying viable sites, understanding constraints, and progressing schemes with confidence.

This is where data can have the greatest impact.

By improving early-stage insight, data reduces uncertainty, supports better-quality applications and allows effort to be focused where delivery is most likely. In doing so, it does not just speed up the planning process, it improves it.

A data-first future

Planning reform may change how decisions are made, and how quickly, but delivery will be shaped by where development happens, how well it is supported, and how clearly risks are understood.

The shift is already underway. As application volumes fall and development becomes more selective, the industry is moving from a focus on where development might be possible to where it is most likely to be viable. That places greater emphasis on earlier insight, better risk visibility and more evidence-led decision-making.

In that context, data is no longer a supporting input. It is fast becoming the foundation for turning planning ambition into delivery.

For a deeper view of what the data reveals, from regional variations and approval trends to the factors shaping development viability download the full Data Insights Report: Planning Applications 2025.

Josh Rains is Managing Director of Landmark Geodata. Josh was appointed Managing Director of Landmark Geodata in 2024, and is responsible for leading the established Geodata business and expanding the opportunities for the use of geospatial data across industries. Josh initially joined Landmark in 2014 in the Product function and has experience delivering innovation and enhanced service offerings across a range of geospatial and customer products and platforms.