The government is set to miss its 1.5 million housebuilding target by 388,000 homes in this parliament, according to analysis from think tank Centre for Cities.
Greater London is set to miss its targets by 196,000, while other major cities will fall short by 96,000.
Centre for Cities argued that the government needs to either to scrap the green belt completely or remove the discretionary element of the planning system.
At the very least, the think tank said green belt land near railway stations with connections to England’s most expensive cities needs to be released for development.
Andrew Carter, chief executive of Centre for Cities, said: “Rightly, the government has set a bold housebuilding target.
“For the country to achieve it, parts of England would have to reach an 80-year high in housebuilding. This would be a huge positive for the country but the approach has to be much more ambitious.
“We’re in a productivity crisis. The UK’s big cities are the jobs and productivity engines of the economy but our planning system doesn’t allow – and has never allowed – them to build an adequate supply of homes for everyone that could work there.”
In terms of other recommendations, Centre for Cities said the public sector needs an “expanded role” in assembling land and preparing brownfield sites for development
Meanwhile the current discretionary planning system should be replaced with a rules-based, flexible, European-style zoning system.
Carter added: “By removing the discretionary element of the planning system, the UK would bring its planning system in line with most developed economies, remove a big block on housebuilding and enable places to better respond to future rises in demand for homes.
“We have done wholesale planning reform before and we can do it again.
“What we can’t do is raise national economic growth – and reduce the strain high housing costs place on people’s spending power – if we don’t address the backlog of missing homes.”
