Nine in ten local authority planning departments (LPAs) in England and Wales are understaffed, delaying planning decisions over new homes and compromising the government’s homes target, according to research from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) and Paragon Bank. The companies’ Planning on Empty report, based on a Freedom of Information (FoI) survey of local authorities across England and Wales, also reveals that planning departments are working at an average of only 80% of the staffing levels they say they need. On average