More than 423,000 homes have been given planning permission but have not yet been built, according to figures that have bolstered calls for “use it or lose it” powers against developers.
Figures compiled for the Local Government Association (LGA) show that the backlog of unbuilt homes has grown by 16% in the past year. In 2016 the number of planning permissions that had not been started in England and Wales was 365,146 but by 2017 this had risen to 423,544.
The figures from Glenigan, a property data company, also show that it now takes 40 months, on average, from schemes gaining planning permission to work being completed — eight months longer than in 2014.
The Independent says that the findings will probably raise questions over why developers are taking more than three years to complete homes, and in many cases failing to build them at all, at a time when the UK is building around 50,000 fewer properties per year than is needed to meet current demand.
Click here for the full Times article (£)
