To meet officially projected need, 60,000 homes per quarter should be being built in England, said the HBF.
The number of housing permissions granted in the second quarter of 2012, was the lowest number of housing permission granted in England since 2009, and well under half the 55,466 granted in the same quarter in 2007.
It added that building the additional 140,000 homes a year that are needed to meet demand would give the economy a huge boost, with every home built creating 1.5 full time construction jobs.
Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the HBF, said: “Under the new planning system, local authorities have much more power over what is built in their area. But with that power comes a responsibility to provide the housing their communities need. Government needs to ensure that councils are meeting this responsibility.
“Ministers have in the past year unveiled some very positive measures aimed at boosting housing supply, particularly the NewBuy scheme, but they cannot succeed unless we have a truly pro-growth planning system.”
According to the HBF, 1,300 homes have been reserved through the government’s NewBuy scheme since its launch in March.
Baseley added: “The new system must provide enough viable land to build the number of homes the country needs. Continuing the current record low level of house-building is storing up huge social and economic problems for the years ahead and the shortfall must be addressed.”
Allan Wilén, economics director at Glenigan – the firm that provided the data for HBF, said the drop in residential planning approvals during the second quarter of 2012 is disappointing.
“In particular the slowing in private housing approvals indicates that housing market conditions remain fragile. Whilst the number of private housing residential units approved during the first six months of 2012 was 5% up on a year ago, the level of approvals continues to run at around half the level seen in 2006 and 2007.”
