Yeovil MP tells government to 'wake up' on housing

Yeovil MP Adam Dance made the comments during a hotseat interview on BBC Radio Somerset

Yeovil MP Adam Dance said the government needs to 'wake up' on housing - not just tackling a skills shortage, but getting planning applications processed.

Labour has vowed to build 1.5m more homes in the next five years and has unveiled an overhaul of England's planning rules.

Liberal Democrat MP Mr Dance said there are not enough qualified planners to process current applications.

Somerset Council said it is actively recruiting new officers to work through the backlog.

The government plans to build 1.5m homes in five years and wants many of them to be affordable

Mr Dance's comments came after a local property agent warned that there was a "housing crisis".

Stephen Baimbridge, a planning partner at the estate agency Greenslade Taylor Hunt, said the biggest issue is resources at Somerset Council's planning department.

He said there has been a "brain drain of senior officers", which has led to a hold-up in planning applications being processed.

Speaking on BBC Radio Somerset's Breakfast programme, Mr Dance agreed there is a "housing crisis".

He said it is partly because there aren't enough planners, but also because of a problem with mitigating the release of phosphates.

Somerset Council said it is actively recruiting new planners and using agency staff to deal with a backlog in planning applications

Somerset Council said it is actively recruiting new officers to get the planning process moving, and is using agency staff to work through the backlog.

Solutions are also being sought to deal with phosphate issues.

A council statement said: "There is a recognised national shortage of planning professionals and many local planning authorities are experiencing difficulties in recruitment and retention."

Mr Dance also called on the government to "put more money into apprenticeships to get our trades moving".

He said: "There's a real lack of people training to do apprenticeships".

This week the government announced 32 Homebuilding Skills Hubs, creating 5,000 construction apprentices.

The government has said it wants to specifically build more affordable homes and hopes its housebuilding programme will kickstart the economy.

It also plans to introduce planning reforms, release greenbelt land and reintroduce mandatory housing targets for local authorities.