Councils will be warned to speed up approval for new homes by Housing Secretary Michael Gove
HOUSING officials will be told “if you snooze you lose” in a bid by Michael Gove to get Britain building.
In a speech tomorrow the Housing Secretary will announce a consultation on forcing Whitehall pen pushers to speed up approval times for new developments.
Where officials fail to rule on time, applications will be automatically approved if all other red tape hurdles have been cleared.
Quangos including the Natural England and Historic England are legally obliged to take a maximum of 13 weeks to rule on planning applications.
But The Sun can reveal major developers are waiting on average over 12 months for a decision.
Mr Gove will also vow to “intervene” where council planning departments hold up house building in their area.
A DLUHC source said: “We have been clear that the Government is on the side of the builders and not the blockers – councils must play their part and deliver the homes this country needs, without concreting over the countryside.
“The Housing Secretary has already told councils that they need to step up, and we are providing a lot of support to help them do so – so those that continue to drag their feet can expect to face Government intervention.”
His proposal has been welcomed by developers, but with the caveat that it’s “just a sweetener”.
Housing industry representatives say that overall the government building policies are dismally failing the public.
Tomorrow Mr Gove will appease Tory NIMBYs by confirming that local authorities don’t need to use central government designed formulas to assess their housing needs.
And as pledged, the compulsory housebuilding targets will be slashed.
Instead town hall chiefs will choose how many new homes are needed locally.
They will be forced to publish local housing plans and up-to-date data on how quickly decisions on applications are being made.
It comes as new data shows planning permission for new homes have fallen to a record low.
In the 12 months to the end of September, 2,778 developments across Britain were granted planning permission – two per cent fewer than the number approved in the 12 months to the end of June and 20 per cent fewer than in the same period last year.
Developers have warned that supplies of new housing next year could drop below 200,000, the lowest figure in a decade.
Stewart Baseley, executive chairman at the Home Builders Federation said: “This is the inevitable outcome of several years of anti-growth policy and rhetoric.
“Businesses have warned for some time that the impact of Government action would be severe but there is now a mounting body of evidence.
“If ministers continue with the proposals to rid the planning system of targets and consequences, no matter how it is packaged, it will result in fewer new homes and represents another victory for NIMBY backbenchers.”