Government planning reforms have harmed house building, say builders

That abolition has put an end to plans to build over 200,000 homes, the report said.  The report concluded that the Government may need to reintroduce central Government housing targets to boost the supply of new homes. The supply has been reduced by Government reforms, the "Tackling the Housing Crisis" report said.

The removal of the regional tier of planning, including regional spatial strategies and their associated housing targets "exposes local planners and councillors to the full force of local opposition to new development", the report said.

This means that responsibility for much-needed but unpopular new construction can no longer be deflected. "As such, while the government may baulk at compulsory housing targets, it is likely that it will have to find a way to re-introduce them", the report concluded.

The report expressed doubt that the Localism Act 2011, which received Royal Assent yesterday, will improve housing supply.  The report concluded that "the practical effects of the [Act] are far more likely to impede development and housing delivery than they are to facilitate it".

The abolitions of regional spatial strategies and housing targets has led to the equivalent of losing nearly two years of housing supply at the current rate of production, the report said. Furthermore, the demand for new housing will outstrip supply by over half a million units by 2015, equivalent to the size of the UK's second largest city Birmingham.

"We want the Government to consider our report's recommendations to help ease the housing problem," said Brian Berry, director of external affairs for FMB. "In particular, we want the Government to ensure banks increase lending; review and reduce the financial burdens on house builders; end the current uncertainty in the planning system... the longer the Government leaves it to act, the more it will cost to get our housing system right."