Planning permission for new homes in the UK is at its highest level since 2008 but the system needs to deliver more sites more quickly to meet demand, according to new figures from the House Builders Federation.

The figures show that 177,731 permission were granted in the year to the end of the first quarter of 2014 with 43,926 in the first three months of the year alone.

The HBF said that with all indicators now showing big increases in house building activity, largely as a result of increased sales driven by the Help to Buy equity loan scheme, it is vital the number of applications granted continues to rise.

The report, produced for HBF by Glenigan, also demonstrates why the government needs to focus its attention on the planning system if there is to be a continued increases in house building.

It points out that the number of sites consented has actually dropped to 679 from 885 in the fourth quarter of 2013 and 807 in the same quarter last year. The report says that if the house building industry is going to be able to move to the next level, and raise build rates still further in the years to come, increasing the number of sites on which they are building and selling homes is absolutely key.

The house building process means that large sites can only be built and sold at the prevailing market rate for that site. It is, therefore vital that we see an increase in the number of sites granted permission if we are to sustain a continuation of the positive indicators of future expansion in house building.

Speeding up the rate at which permissions are granted will also be key to significant, sustainable increases. Too many sites are ‘stuck’ in the planning system, with an estimated 150,000 plots at ‘outline permission’ stage awaiting full sign off by local authorities.

The industry is imploring local authorities to ensure their planning departments are sufficiently resourced, and applications are processed efficiently and speedily, so that work can get started on new sites.

In its Autumn Statement the government committed to introducing legislation to remove blockages in the planning system by imposing a limit on the ‘pre construction’ conditions that planning authorities could put on permissions, and a time limit on discharging them. These proposals now urgently need implementing if housing supply is to continue to increase.

‘All political parties and commentators now agree we are facing an acute housing crisis that will only be solved by building substantially more homes. The Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme has led to a big increase in sales of new homes and the industry has responded and significantly increased output,’ said Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the HBF.

‘Existing sites are being built out quicker and we now desperately need new sites to come on stream if we are to see increases in house building sustained. All builders are now identifying the planning system as the…