Three-quarters of councillors believe the housing crisis has become significantly worse in the past year, according to a major survey of planning authorities in England and Wales.
In the survey of 416 planning committee members by communications consultancy SEC Newgate, two-thirds said the housing crisis in their local area was severe.
Half of councillors pointed to increasing workload and resourcing issues as key barriers to determining plannings applications.
Affordable housing emerged as a significant issue, with 30% of councillors rating it as their top priority and 70% putting it among their top five.
Meanwhile, delivering on housing targets was a top priority for just 7% of respondents, and 55% said they supported the Government’s shift away from mandatory housing targets.
On government proposals to publish planning performance league tables, just 4% of planning committee members said these would encourage more approval of schemes.
The head of Advocacy Local at SEC Newgate, Perry Miller, said the findings were a ‘stark warning’ that England and Wales are ‘at risk of total housing failure without significant interventions’.
Mr Miller added: ‘The actions and agendas of multiple actors make the issue of housing delivery a highly complex one to grapple with, and there is no silver bullet.
‘We’re at a tipping point and need change from all those working to deliver the homes the country needs.’
