HUGE rises in house prices across North Yorkshire have triggered a planning crisis in council offices as overworked officers deal with a record number of applications for extensions and alterations.

Harrogate Borough Council has joined Ryedale District Council in admitting that its under-strength planning department has a huge backlog of applications to get through.

Council chiefs claim that householders, rather than move to bigger houses, are applying to extend their current properties - doubling the work for officers.

In Ryedale, the Evening Press has already reported that staff shortages and recruitment difficulties are causing problems for council officers.

Now chiefs at Harrogate have admitted they are in the same boat.

Increases in the house price market over the last 12 months have made the cost of moving house unacceptable for many people.

Normally councils look to deal with at least eight out of ten applications within eight weeks of receiving them. But in Harrogate this number has fallen to only four.

Coun Bill Hoult, Harrogate cabinet member for planning, said: "Three years ago, we received about 800 applications in a year. Now it's 1,400.

"It is mainly extensions. People used to move when they needed a bigger house. Now they are extending their properties. What we are determined not to do is lower the quality of the applications process.

"Individuals expect their applications to be dealt with properly.

He said the council had also been without two planning officers for nine months.

"We are appealing to our customers to bear with us throughout this difficult period and we would hope to be able to get back up to speed as soon as possible."

Officials at Selby District Council say they are facing a similar problem. Richard Borrows, principal planning officer, said the authority was employing consultants to help it get through the workload.

"Applications are certainly up," he said. "There are normally about 1,100, but we have 1,400 this year. It is true that home applications have gone up markedly. Rising house prices may well be a factor in this.

"We have two consultants working with us just now as well as six full-time officers. The consultants will be in place until at least Christmas."

City of York Council has noticed a slight increase in the number of home improvement applications, but said it was "coping well" with the extra numbers.

Updated: 11:22 Thursday, October 03, 2002