The UK is missing more than four million homes due to its ‘inefficient' and ‘outdated' planning laws, a think-tank has claimed.

A new report from the Centre for Cities argued that the current case-by-case planning process based on the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act had encouraged an ‘unpredictable system' that has slowed down housebuilding.

The report argued that the slow delivery of housing had created a backlog of at least 4.3 million homes that could have been built since the 1950s.

It proposed reforming the system from one where councils have a high level of discretion when it comes to what gets built to a rules-based, flexible zoning process.

Centre for Cities chief executive Andrew Carter said: ‘This research shows that UK planning policy has held back the economy for nearly three-quarters of a century, stifling growth and exacerbating a housing crisis that has blighted the country for decades.'