There are too few planning permissions being granted in areas of most need , according to real estate firm Savills . Its research found there is a shortfall of 90,000 planning applications in the most in - demand and unaffordable areas of the country . Just one in five planning consents last year were in the least affordable areas , which are London and the south - east , where the house - price - to - demand ratio is at least 11.4 , despite 40 % of the country 's total need for new homes being in these markets . Savills concluded that the shortage of homes could hinder economic growth .
There are too few planning permissions being granted in areas of most need, according to real estate firm Savills. Its research found there is a shortfall of 90,000 planning consents in the most in-demand and unaffordable areas of the country. Just one in five planning consents last year were in the least affordable areas, which includes London and the south-east, where the house-price-to-earnings ratio is at least 11.4, despite 40% of the country's total need for new houses being in these markets. Savills concluded that the lack of homes could hinder economic growth.