12
FEBRUARY 2016 PRO INSTALLER
PRO NEWS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
475,000 HOMES WITH
PLANNING PERMISSION
STILL WAITING TO BE BUILT
New research reveals there are a
record 475,647 homes in England
which have been given planning
permission but have yet to be built.
The study, commissioned by the Local
Government Association and carried out by
industry experts Glenigan, shows this bumper
backlog has grown at
a rapid pace over the
past few years.
In 2012/13, the total of unimplemented planning permissions was 381,390 and in
2013/14 it was 443,265.
The LGA said that the figures underline the need for
councils to be able to invest
in building more homes and
also for the skills shortage
affecting the construction
industry to be addressed.
Council leaders also want
powers to charge developers full council tax for every
unbuilt development from
the point that the original planning permission
expires.
The LGA, which represents
more than 370 councils in
England and Wales, also
said:
Developers are taking
longer to complete work
on site. It now takes 32
months, on average, from
sites receiving planning
permission to building
work being completed –
12 months longer than in
2007/8.
The number of planning
applications being granted planning permission
in 2014/15 was 212,468 -
this is up from 187,605 in
2007/08 and is higher than
all previous years.
Councils still approve nine
in every ten applications.
While the construction
industry’s forecasted annual
recruitment need is up 54%
from 2013, there are 10,000
fewer construction qualifications being awarded by
colleges, apprenticeships
and universities.
There were 58% fewer
completed construction apprenticeships last year than
in 2009.
Cllr Peter Box, LGA Housing spokesperson, said:
“These figures conclusively
prove that the planning
system is not a barrier to
house building. In fact the
opposite is true, councils
are approving almost half
a million more houses than
are being built, and this gap
is increasing.
“While private developers
have a key role in solving
our chronic housing shortage, they cannot build the
230,000 needed each year
on their own. To tackle the
new homes backlog and to
get Britain building again,
councils must have the
power to invest in building
new homes and to force
developers to build homes
more quickly.
“Skills is the greatest
barrier to building, not
planning. If we are to see
the homes desperately
needed across the country
built and jobs and apprenticeships created, councils
must be given a leading
role to tackle our growing
construction skills shortage,
which the industry says is
one of the greatest barriers
to building.
“Devolving careers advice,
post-16 and adult skills
budgets and powers to local
areas would allow councils,
schools, colleges and employers to work together to
help unemployed residents
and young people develop
the vital skills to build.
“New homes are badly
needed and councils want
to get on with the job of
building them. If we are to
see a genuine end to our
housing crisis we have to be
given the powers to get on
with it.”
The LGA commissioned
Glenigan to undertake an
analysis of the extent and
scope of unimplemented
residential planning permissions in England and Wales
in financial years 2013/14
and 2014/15.
The analysis updated
work published by the LGA
in 2013, and the findings
have been combined to
examine unimplemented
planning permissions over
the last eight financial years
(2007/08 – 2014/15). The
analysis uses data taken
from Glenigan’s database of
construction projects. This
data is also used by other
government departments,
such as Communities and
Local Government, to monitor planning permissions.
The LGA has launched a
Housing Commission to set
out a forward-looking vision
for the future of housing
and the relationship between councils and communities. This call for evidence
invites councils, partners,
organisations and individuals to contribute their issues,
evidence, and examples of
effective housing and ideas
to the Commission’s Advisory Panel, made up of LGA
Board members, experts
and academics.
Source: www.local.gov.uk/
media-releases/-/journal_
content/56/.../NEWS
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