Developers should pay increased fees to ease the “emerging crisis” in council planning departments, a House of Lords committee has said.

The finding comes in a wide-ranging report into meeting housing demand by the cross-party House of Lords built environment committee which highlights barriers to house building and makes policy recommendations across a raft of areas (see box below), including measures to improve the planning system.

The report, which follows a six-month inquiry, said: “There is an evolving crisis. Local planning authorities do not have sufficient financial resources, and in many cases do not have the skilled personnel, to deliver a quality service in a reasonable timeframe.

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