More than 1m homes with planning permission yet to be built

More than 1.1m homes granted planning permission in England in the last decade are yet to be built, according to new research.

New figures published by the Local Government Association (LGA) show show that 2,782,300 homes have been granted planning permission by councils since 2010/11 but over the same period only 1,627,730 have been built.

The number of planning permission granted for new homes has more than doubled since 2010, with nine in 10 planning applications being approved by councils.

The analysis comes as the government is expected to make an announcement about the new Planning Bill in the Queen’s Speech later this week (11 May).

The LGA has argued that the number of ones being granted planning permission that the planning system is not the barrier to house-building and that it is the housing delivery system that needs to be reformed.

To help councils get developers building more quickly, it says the Queen’s Speech should bring forward legislation that enables councils to charge developers full council tax for every unbuilt development from the point the original planning permission expires.

It should also make it easier for councils to use compulsory purchase powers to acquire stalled housing sites or sites where developers do not build out to timescales contractually agreed with a local planning authority.

The LGA is calling for councils to be given the powers to kickstart a social housebuilding programme of 100,000 homes a year.

Last week, campaigners warned the government that proposed planning reforms could add ‘a tide of car traffic’ to already overcrowded roads and undermine wider social, economic and environmental goals.

‘Councils are committed to working with government and developers to build the housing the country needs,’ said LGA housing spokesman, Cllr David Renard.

‘It is good the number of homes built each year is increasing. But by giving councils the right powers to incentivise developers to get building once planning permission has been granted, we can go further and faster.

‘Councils are granting permission for hundreds of thousands of homes but families who desperately need housing cannot live in a planning permission.

‘This is why we need the Queen’s Speech to deliver the reform needed to enable councils to tackle the housing crisis.’

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