Rising demand for primary school places could soon see two pupils fighting for every place in some areas of the country, the Local Government Association has warned.
The LGA said teaching standards are already at risk as some schools are being forced to convert spaces such as libraries and music rooms into classrooms.
Others are having to reduce playground space or expand classes beyond the limit of 30 pupils, says the LGA - which represents more than 370 councils in England and Wales.
It claims that by the start of the academic year in 2015, schools in Newmarket in Suffolk will be over-subscribed by almost 100%, with two pupils to every current available place.
In Costessey, Purfleet and central Croydon there will be at least 75% more demand than current places available.
And, by 2016, schools up and down the country from Bristol to Manchester will have to increase the number of school places by at least 20% to ensure every child gets a place.
Council leaders want the government to cut bureaucracy and let them bring in local solutions to solve the problem.
The LGA's David Simmonds said council efforts to find a place for every pupil were being "hampered by uncertainty and unnecessary restrictions".
Education Secretary Michael Gove blamed the last Labour government for the problems, claiming Tory warnings about the issue had been ignored.
He told Sky News: "We warned the last government that there was a need to invest more in new school places. They didn't listen to that message so we are having to clean up the situation now."
He admitted the shortage was now a "significant challenge" but moved to reassure parents that the Government and councils were working to ensure no children missed out.
"Free schools are only one part of the equation," he said.
"It is also the case that local authorities are using billions of pounds that we have given them in order to expand some existing schools and allow new schools to be created which will help meet the need for school places."
The Department of Education said the Government will have poured £5bn into created new school places by 2015, more than double that spent by Labour in the same timeframe.
Some 190,000 extra places have already been created since 2010 and another £7.5bn is due to be spend on funding 500,000 places by 2021.
A spokesman said: "We are building more free schools, letting the most popular schools expand, and intervening to drive up standards in weak primaries which have thousands of empty places simply because parents don't want to send their children there."
Demand for places is being driven by a booming UK birth rate.
More babies were born in 2011-12 than any year since 1972, according to the Office for National Statistics.
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