DEVELOPERS who get planning permission for houses then don't build them should be fined, Oxford City Council has said today.

Companies who engage in so-called "land banking", which forces property prices up, should be made to pay council tax on every single unbuilt home, deputy leader Ed Turner said.

Mr Turner made his statement after a report by the Local Government Association (LGA) published today claimed there were 475,000 homes with planning permission across the UK that have yet to be built.

The fewer homes are built, the more it pushes up house prices, and land is worth more when it has planning permission for development, so such schemes can be a lucrative investment as well as pushing up increasingly unaffordable house prices.

The LGA also called on Government to give local councils the power to fine developers.

Mr Turner, who is also the LGA's planning spokesman, told the Oxford Mail: "Local authorities are held accountable for getting homes built on our patches so we need the tools to get it done.

"One tool would be the ability to charge council tax.

"We don't want to make money from this scheme, we want it to lead to people getting affordable houses."

Across Oxfordshire, thousands of homes have been granted planning permission in major estates which have yet to be built, such as the 2,500-home Grove Airfield and the 885-home Barton Park north of Oxford.

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Housing developers have said, and the LGA agrees, that part of the problem is a shortage of skills in construction across the UK.

Mr Turner said: "We find this is a major issue in Oxford.

"That means it is expensive to see construction projects realised and there's also a lot less competition in the industry than we would like."

He said there had been a significant decline in the number of small and medium-sized construction companies in recent years, which left the industry in the hands of a few major national firms.