Homebuilders are sitting on almost 125,000 unused house planning consents, or four year’s supply in south-east England alone, according to town planners.
The figures follow the statement made by leading UK housebuilder Taylor Woodrow that planning bottlenecks were undermining government plans to raise the rate of growth and contributing to a nationwide shortage.
Andrew Whitaker, head of planning at the Home Builders Federation, said: “Despite the so-called backlog of consents, the south-east of England is not delivering the number of homes required against agreed government targets.”
References: Daily Telegraph 05/08/06 page 29
