According to research updated in February, at least eight out of 10 planning departments are short of staff, undermining the government's flagship policy to build 1.5 million homes.
The findings by the Home Builders Federation, based on a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to 134 local authorities, suggests a shortage of around 2,200 planners is causing significant delays to housing and infrastructure schemes.
The research found that:
The government has pledged to recruit 300 council planners, but the study points out that this only plugs 15% of the shortfall.
A quarter of councils had a staff turnover of 15% or more in 2023/24 and almost half of all councils reported that they saw a staff turnover of more than 10% in their planning departments in the previous year.
The significant turnover means 60% of local authorities responding to the FOI request use agency workers to plug gaps in planning services. They employed around four agency workers for 141 days each during 2023/24, which is equivalent to 7% of the total workforce.
Councils spent an average of £200,000 on agency workers in planning departments, amounting to around £64 million across England and Wales. The HBF argues that with the average graduate starting salary for planners working in local authorities around £26,000, spending on agency workers could fund almost 2,500 additional planners.
Neil Jefferson, HBF Chief Executive, said: "The severe shortage of planning officers is directly undermining the government's ability to meet its housing targets, causing significant delays to housing projects when the country is in desperate need of more homes".
"Housing delivery offers immense economic and social benefits to communities, yet these advantages are being held back due to inadequate planning resources".
"Local authorities often cite infrastructure needs as reasons to block new developments, yet millions in unspent developer contributions remain in council accounts, unutilised. This is an issue that needs to be addressed urgently".
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