Councils in England could need around 3,000 additional planning officers to deliver the government’s target of 1.5 million new homes, according to new analysis.
Research by Land Value Calculator suggests the requirement is more than twice the government’s ambition to recruit approximately 1,400 planners during this Parliament.
The estimate combines around 2,500 additional officers needed to handle the anticipated increase in housing applications with approximately 600 existing vacancies across local planning authorities.
The findings raise questions about whether councils have sufficient resources to deliver the government’s housebuilding ambitions ahead of the Autumn Budget on 28 October.
PLANNING BOTTLENECK
The analysis uses government projections which suggest applications for new homes could need to increase by almost 80% compared with recent levels to support delivery of 1.5 million homes.
Land Value Calculator estimates this would increase the overall planning workload by around half.
Official figures underline the pressures already facing local authorities.
Between April and June 2026, just 19% of major planning applications were determined within the statutory 13-week period, down four percentage points on a year earlier.
However, 91% were determined within 13 weeks or an agreed extended timeframe, with 77% of major decisions involving performance agreements.
A spokesperson for Land Value Calculator says: “Ministers want councils to approve far more homes with planning teams that decide only one in five major applications inside 13 weeks and run most of the rest on agreed extensions.
“Using the Government’s own figures, the gap is about 3,000 officers. The aim is 1,400 over a whole Parliament.”
RECRUITMENT GAP
The government’s latest planning capacity survey found that 79% of local planning authorities continued to experience recruitment difficulties, while 93% reported skills gaps.
Ministers have committed an additional £48m over three years to strengthen planning capacity, with an ambition to recruit approximately 1,400 planners across the planning system by the end of this Parliament.
The recruitment target substantially exceeds the government’s original commitment to recruit 300 additional planning officers but remains below the requirement estimated by Land Value Calculator.
The analysis also suggests that the scale of the shortage depends on the level of housebuilding achieved.
Under a lower-growth scenario, with housing applications increasing by approximately 24%, the estimated requirement falls to around 1,400 additional officers.
However, the research argues that delivering the full housing target would require considerably greater recruitment.
The spokesperson adds: “Higher fees can pay for more planners, but councils cannot hire people who are not being trained.
“The Budget on 28 October should say where 3,000 are coming from.”
