LABOUR’S flagship housebuilding target will be “almost impossible” to deliver while one in 10 council planning jobs in England are vacant, Unison has warned.

A report published by the union today warns widespread shortages across key planning roles are putting the aim to delivery 1.5 million homes by 2029 at risk.

Unison head of local government Mike Short said: “Councils are being asked to deliver 1.5 million new homes to boost growth, but they don’t have enough planners to process applications quickly and effectively.

“Delays are increasingly common, slowing down development and leaving communities waiting longer for the homes and infrastructure they need.

“Without proper investment in planning staff, the government’s bold housing ambitions will be almost impossible to deliver.”

The Short of Planners, Short of Homes report found many councils have queues of planning applications waiting to be registered with no clear timeframe for approval or rejection.

Long-term planning is also being hampered with just 55 per cent of councils having an up-to-date local plan.

These documents set out future development in an area and not having one limits an authority’s ability to co-ordinate crucial housebuilding amid shortages — putting the green belt at risk and increasing the number of speculative applications, according to the report.

Last year, Unison identified almost 900 planning vacancies across England and found just 21 per cent councils had fully staffed planning departments.

It says years of austerity-era cuts to council budgets have reduced capacity across the system.

Spending on planning and development services fell by 58 per cent per person between 2010 and 2020, while housing spending decreased by 44 per cent over the same period, the union adds.