LGA Responds to IPPR Report on unbuilt homes

On Friday 14th February the IPPR has released a new report that has found 1.4m houses have been left unbuilt by developers since 2007.

Cllr Adam Hug, Housing spokesperson for the LGA, said:

“This report puts a spotlight on one of the key issues the LGA has long-called for Government action on – the need to tackle slow build-out rates from some developers.

“In order to deliver the homes we need, Government must work with councils and the housebuilding industry to ensure there is a suitable pipeline of sustainable sites, which once allocated in a Local Plan and / or given planning permission, are indeed built out. Councils approve 9 in 10 planning applications, but people cannot and do not live in planning permissions. Councils must be given greater powers to ensure prompt build out of sites with planning permission, also should be given the support to ensure they have an up-to-date local plan so they can give certainty to residents and housebuilders’

“Planning is about creating communities linked with the right economic activity and public services, whilst conserving and enhancing the natural and local environment generating a sense of place, culture and local identity. Developments require more than just houses to create thriving, attractive and desirable places and communities in which to live, and often it is the accompanying local and national infrastructure, to be delivered alongside new homes, which is of primary concern for residents.”