Member Article

Councils blast policy as 400,000 homes remain unbuilt

Nearly 400,000 homes in Britain have been given planning permission but remain unbuilt, local councils have suggested.

A study by the Local Government Association (LGA) highlights a backlog in house building, and also says developers are submitting fewer new planning requests.

The LGA estimates that it takes 27 months, on average, from sites receiving planning permission to building work being completed – seven months longer than in 2007/8.

It says the Government must remove restrictions on investment councils can make in new housing.

Cllr Mike Jones, chairman of the LGA’s Environment and Housing Board, said: “The bumper backlog of unbuilt homes and drop in the number of planning applications submitted to councils last year is a worrying sign that the housing market is not yet on the road to long-term recovery.

“While there has been progress made, this risks being undermined if we do not find a way to ensure developers keep up with demand.

“These figures conclusively show that it is not the planning system holding back the building of much-needed new homes.

“Councils are approving nine in every 10 planning applications we receive and we know that there has been an increase in the numbers of first-time buyers getting mortgages.

“The challenge now lies in actually getting houses built. Government schemes to help buyers access finance risk creating a bubble if there isn’t an increase house building to match it

“Government has an unrivalled opportunity to create jobs, provide tens of thousands of homes and help the economy without having to find a single extra penny. New homes are badly-needed and councils want to get on with building them. The common sense answer is for the Treasury to remove its house building block and let us get on with it.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .