BLOGS

We have the data model grounded. Let me pull two reports: (1) application volumes over recent years (to show the four-year high), and (2) approval rates over recent years (to show record lows), ideally broken out by grey belt/green belt status where possible.The internal data actually shows applications declining since 2021 (not rising to a four-year high) and approval rates broadly stable-to-improving in 2025 versus 2023-24 — this contradicts the suggested angle's premise. I should check green/grey belt specific volumes too, since the reform is very recent (2024/25), and the editorial angle may be about a narrower segment (major/green belt sites) rather than all residential applications.Our internal data doesn't confirm the suggested angle's premise (a four-year application high alongside record-low approvals) — it actually shows the opposite trend on both overall and green belt applications. I need to flag this rather than fabricate a narrative that contradicts our own data.Quick flag before I write this: our planning data doesn't actually support the suggested premise. Here's what we're seeing:

• Overall UK residential applications: fell every year from 2021 (~36.7k) to 2024 (~23.1k), with only a marginal uptick in 2025 (~23.3k) — that's a multi-year low with early stabilisation, not a four-year high.

• Approval rates: dropped from 76.6% (2021) to 71.25% (2024), then recovered to 74.2% in 2025 — not a record low.

• Green belt-specific applications: same pattern — declined 2021–2024, ticked up in 2025, with approval rates actually hitting their highest point (71.5%) in 2025.

So the data points to the opposite story: application volumes bottoming out/stabilising and approval rates recovering as grey belt reforms bed in, rather than a surge-and-rejection dynamic.