The Department of Town and Regional Planning at the University of Sheffield was commissioned by ODPM to undertake research on the extent of land with outstanding planning permission for housing in northern England and the West Midlands and to explore its relation to issues of low demand. The report is entitled "Outstanding planning permission for housing development in Northern England" and is available to download from the ODPM web site.
The key findings of the report are:
- There is outstanding planning permission (OPP) for around 170,000 dwellings in the North East, North West, West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber together.
- Overall OPP in responding authorities is equivalent to 2.88 years' supply of housing land in each authority
- The majority of consents apply to brownfield sites; reflecting the mix of sites currently being completed.
- In particular localities the level of outstanding planning permissions is incommensurate with anticipated build rates, and in these districts a much larger proportion of consents apply to greenfield sites.
- Problematic levels of OPP are concentrated geographically.