Delays in the planning system are one of the main factors driving up house prices, the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) has claimed. It says delays are at an unacceptable level and has called on the Government to staff up planning personnel in local authorities.

Mr Ciaran Ryan, the CIF's senior housing executive, said yesterday that it can take a developer at least 12 months to obtain planning permission for a housing scheme, "before he even turns a sod". He said the number of technical staff dealing with planning applications in local authorities has been falling steadily, despite the unprecedented boom in the construction industry over the past four years.

Mr Ryan said planning officials were using the tactic of seeking additional information to extend the time allowed to consider applications. In the case of the planning board, this allows the board an additional two months "breathing space". CIF figures released yesterday forecast that almost 40,000 new houses will be built this year. However, it says that recent moves by the Government to curb the shortage of suitable serviced land, although welcome, will not be sufficient.

The Government is to invest £15 million in the development of sewage and water services. This will be matched by £20 million from developers. The Government has estimated that this will result in almost 40,000 new houses over the next three years.

However, the CIF has privately questioned this figure. It also said that in many cases it is the lack of suitable water and sewage treatment plants which is holding up development.

Mr Ryan told The Irish Times that between 1994 and 1996 the amount of money levied on developers - for costs such as planning fees and water and sewage services - had risen by 50 per cent in Dublin alone. Mr Michael Goggins, director of housing at the CIF, said new house prices would continue to rise, but increases would have to begin to slow down. "It is very difficult to forecast house prices, but affordability will determine in the end how prices will pan out. They cannot continue to increase at a rate of 20 per cent per year. Mr Goggins said the number of planning applications in the pipeline for housing projects seemed to suggest that there was enough land to support building activity in 1998.