North West sees more home improvement planning applications than neighbouring regions

Planning applications for home improvement projects across England reached a record high in the 12 months to March 2015, with homeowners in the North West submitting more than those in neighbouring regions.

Research from North West construction data firm Barbour ABI highlighted a North-South divide in the number of home improvement planning applications, with Greater London and the South East marking the biggest increases over the last five years.

A record 417k planning applications were submitted in England during the year ending March 2015, with around 31k of those in the North West. This put the region ahead of Yorkshire & the Humber, the East Midlands, the West Midlands and the North East, both in terms of the total number of planning applications and the level of change since the 12 months to March 2012.

Michael Dall, Cheshire-based Barbour ABI’s lead economist, said: “With personal equity and income increasing, homeowners are getting more of an opportunity to improve their property investments to add significant value, however this varies across the country at different ends of the scale.

“In the Northern regions of England house prices are continuing to grow, but it is a stark contrast when compared to the South.”

He added: “Thousands of pre-recession buyers have found themselves in negative equity due to the record high house prices pre 2007, alongside not benefiting from the rapid house price growth many Southern regions have recently experienced.”

Operating from its headquarters in Ellesmere Port, Barbour ABI has a team of 60 researchers providing construction intelligence and lead generation services.

Speaking further about the findings, Michael commented: “Overall as a country, homeowners are increasingly choosing to improve and extend their properties. It can be debated that this is due to increased income, negative equity or even a lack of new housing available.”

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