The government has already pledged funding for 300 further planning officers but the trade body has argued this is insufficient, with departmental bottlenecks hindering further development.

Specifically, the BPF wants further funding for the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) which it argues is unable to cope with its workload. This leads to projects being unnecessarily delayed or abandoned altogether.

Elsewhere, the Land Registry has been identified as another source of delays. Here, the BPF has calculated that over 12,000 working days are wasted every year by legal teams chasing applications.

In response, the trade body is calling for a number of steps from the government.

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As well as ring-fencing income for planning departments, and further funding for the BSR and the Land Registry, the BPF is arguing for a 10-year rent settlement to support private investment to deliver an additional 240,000 affordable homes over a five-year period.

The BPF has also argued that Stamp Duty Multiple Dwellings Relief should also be reinstated, to support valuations and development viability of BTR.

“The government’s reforms to the planning system will not deliver homes, infrastructure and growth unless the regulatory and planning system is made more efficient and adequately resourced,” said Melanie Leech, CEO at the BPF.

“To unlock the billions of pounds of investment needed to build more homes, employment spaces, infrastructure and to support improvements in key public services such as the NHS, we need the government to create a supportive fiscal and regulatory environment that will give the real estate sector the confidence to make long-term investment decisions. That requires a new smarter approach to regulation and ensuring that it is properly resourced.”