HOME builders have called for a new approach to tackle Scotland's housing crisis after new figures showed an increase in the time taken to decide major developments.

The average timescale for a large project increased by six weeks to over 41 weeks, leading to Homes for Scotland, which represents the home building industry, branding the timescales "depressing".

The Scottish Government statistics show that for the second quarter of 2014/2015 there were 1,528 decisions made on local housing developments, the highest quarterly figure over the past two and a half years.

The average decision time was 14.3 weeks, over a week quicker than the previous quarter and again the quickest turnaround timescales since 2011.

But for major housing developments there was a fall of 13 decisions, down to a total of 21 for July to September of this year. The average decision time of 41.2 weeks was slower by almost six weeks.

The figures have prompted Homes for Scotland to call for a new approach to increase the supply of properties of all tenures.

The organisation's Allan Lundmark said: "These figures demonstrate that insufficient priority and resource are being allocated to the delivery of new homes at local authority level and highlight a system which falls far short of the standards of customer service, speed and efficiency that Scotland needs if we are to build more homes and stimulate economic growth.

"The only way to get the increase in housing supply that Scotland so desperately needs is for local authorities to work in partnership with the industry and for national government to use the powers it has at its disposal to step in where intervention is required."

The Scottish Property Federation (SPF) also expressed disappointment at the fall in major business and industry decisions, which saw just six projects decided in the quarter.

However, the decision time taken for these developments reduced significantly from an average of 17.9 weeks to 11 and half weeks.

SPF director David Melhuish said: "Major development is a long and risky process. It is important that all aspects of the planning system, the private sector, public agencies and planning authorities, realise this challenge. Otherwise, we risk losing the potential to attract major investment in our built environment across Scotland."