More than 475,000 homes with planning permission are still waiting to be built, according to a study commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA).
The new research, carried out by industry experts Glenigan, reveals that the backlog has grown rapidly in recent years - from 381,390 unimplemented planning permissions in 2012/13 to 475,647 today.
The LGA study found that the number of planning applications being granted planning permission in 2014/15 was 212,468 - this is up from 187,605 in 2007/08 and is higher than all previous years.
In fact, the research shows, councils approve nine in every 10 applications but developers are taking longer to complete work on site.
It now takes 32 months, on average, from sites receiving planning permission to building work being completed, 12 months longer than in 2007/8.
A part of the problem is the lack of skilled construction workers available.
While the construction industry's forecasted annual recruitment need is up 54% from 2013, there are 10,000 fewer construction qualifications being awarded by colleges, apprenticeships and universities.
There were also 58% fewer completed construction apprenticeships last year than in 2009.
Cllr Peter Box, LGA housing spokesman, said: ‘These figures conclusively prove that the planning system is not a barrier to house building. In fact the opposite is true, councils are approving almost half a million more houses than are being built, and this gap is increasing.
‘While private developers have a key role in solving our chronic housing shortage, they cannot build the 230,000 needed each year on their own. To tackle the new homes backlog and to get Britain building again, councils must have the power to invest in building new homes and to force developers to build homes more quickly.’
‘Skills is the greatest barrier to building, not planning,’ Cllr Box continued.
‘If we are to see the homes desperately needed across the country built and jobs and apprenticeships created, councils must be given a leading role to tackle our growing construction skills shortage, which the industry says is one of the greatest barriers to building.’
