Developers yet to seek planning permission for more than 1m homes

Town hall leaders have warned that developers have yet to apply for planning permission for more than 1m homes on land already earmarked for building.

A new analysis by the Local Government Association (LGA) estimates that more than a third (1,003,600) of the 2,676,200 homes allocated in current local plans in England have not even been submitted into the planning system.

Local plans are a set of planning policies drawn up by councils, which allocate the number of homes to be built in local areas in consultation with local communities.

The LGA says this is further evidence that councils are allocating enough land to deliver a housing pipeline for many years ahead and that planning is not a barrier to building the homes the country desperately needs.

It has called on the government to give councils the powers to incentivise developers to bring allocated sites forward without delay or intervene where development has stalled.

This could include making it easier to compulsory purchase land where homes remain unbuilt, and to be able to charge developers full council tax for every unbuilt development that is not built out to agreed timescales.

The government is proposing wide-ranging reforms to the planning system in England, including changes to its housing numbers algorithm which sets councils housing targets.

But these changes have faced heavy criticism from Conservative MPs, charities and councillors.

‘This is another example of our broken housing delivery system, and shows why councils need to be given the powers to ensure desperately-needed homes are getting built in a swift and timely manner,’ said the LGA’s housing spokesman, Cllr David Rennard.

‘The recovery from the coronavirus pandemic will need stability and certainty in planning. This can only be achieved through a locally-led planning system where communities have a proper say over developments in their local area.’

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