Research commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA) has revealed that there are 475,647 homes in England which are yet to be built, despite the fact they have planning permission.
The study found that in 2012/2013, there were 381,390 planning permissions granted which were not actually implemented. That rose to 443,265 in 2013/2014 and 475,647 in 2014/2015.
Peter Box, the LGA's housing spokesperson, said that the figures proved that it was not the planning system that was a barrier to house building, but has suggested that "skills is the greatest barrier to building, not planning". Mr Box said, "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."
He added, "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."
However, John Stewart, from the Home Builders Federation, does not agree and suggested that speeding up the planning process to grant permission earlier was key.
In order to tackle the issue, council leaders have suggested that developers who have planning permission but do not build should pay council tax after the original planning permission expires.
