THE British Government said Friday it would remove obstacles to building new houses as it tries to tackle a chronic shortage of homes and put its economy on a sounder footing.

    At the center of a new program to boost Britain’s poor productivity record are powers for the government to step in and draw up housing plans if local authorities fail to do so.

    Town halls that drag their feet on planning decisions may be fined, the government said as it moved to reduce the delays for housing projects that are often caused by local objections.

    The plan follows the first government budget since Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party won national elections in May.

    Britain’s economy has grown strongly over the past two years and the number of people in work has hit a record high. But growth in output per worker lags behind that of many other advanced countries, posing a threat to the recovery.

    “In stark terms, it now takes a worker in the United Kingdom five days to produce what his or her counterparts in Germany can deliver in four,” business minister Sajid Javid said.

    The new plan brings together existing proposals in areas including transport, trade and the devolution of power to cities and regions. It also focuses on training, which critics say lags far behind other European countries.

    Javid said it was unacceptable that Britain was one of the few advanced countries where the skills of 16- to 24-year-olds were no better than those of 55- to 64-year-olds. Chancellor George Osborne said that in the last 25 years, France had built more than 2,500 miles (4,000 km) of roads while Britain had built just 300.(SD-Agencies)