Planning rules' 'perverse' result

The study looked at decisions made on developments of 10 homes or more

Targets aimed at speeding up English planning decisions may have led councils to reject more developments, says a spending watchdog.

The National Audit Office said a 13-week target for decisions had resulted in some "perverse consequences".

Decisions made within 13 weeks rose from 37% in 2002-3 to 67% in 2007-8.

But the report said of the 100 "major residential applications" studied, 98% of rejections were made within 13 weeks but only 49% of approvals.

It said approvals for developments of 10 homes or more took on average more than 25 weeks.

'Speedier decisions'

Previous estimates have put the cost of planning delays to the economy at