New home planning permissions jump 62 per cent in a year The federation said that signs of easing in both constraints "had raised hopes that developers will be able to increase production from the current very low levels, giving the country a social and economic boost." Stewart Baseley, the federation's executive chairman, said: "The increase in residential permissions is hopefully a reflection of the positive planning principles of the new system. It is still very early days though and the increases must be sustained. Government must ensure the system continues to be underpinned by a robust appeals process where local authorities are not meeting the responsibilities they have to their communities. Building the homes we need would take millions of people off social housing waiting lists and enable beleaguered young families to get a foot on the housing ladder. It could also create half a million new jobs and give the country a massive and much-needed economic boost. We are seeing progress - we now need to maintain it. The new National Planning Policy Framework, which comes into force at the end of this month, forces councils to ensure that they promote sustainable development when considering planning applications. Councils have until March 27 to draw up local plans which direct where building can take place. However fewer than half the councils in England have the plans in place which means people will have less chance to say where development can take place. The federation said the Government's Planning Inspectorate had to "continue to robustly monitor Local Plans and throw out unsatisfactory ones." Allan Wilén, economics director at Glenigan which compiled the figures, added: "The marked increase in the number of units approved during 2012 suggests that the recent changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, combined with expectations of improved market conditions, may be enabling house builders to bring more sites forward for development." However Mr Wilén added that the number of homes approved was still "39 per cent down on the levels seen during 2006 and 2007."