Our view

CPRE has been working to develop alternative approaches to planning for housing which would give us all decent homes whilst protecting the countryside and the environment.

Create more affordable housing
We accept there is a strong case for building more state-subsidised, affordable housing for people who can't afford market prices to rent or part own. We're pleased the Government has started to move in this direction (after years in which the supply of this kind of housing has dwindled). We think the planning system can do much more to get these types of homes built.

Better use of brownfield land and existing homes
We need to make greater use of previously developed, or 'brownfield' land in building new homes. We also need to make better use of the housing that already exists and end the scandal of nearly 700,000 empty homes in England. Ending VAT on building repairs and renovation would free up resources for repair, maintenance and refurbishment and would mean that more homes — including empty homes — could be modernised and improved, reducing the number of new homes required.

More efficient use of land
We need to make efficient use of land by getting design and density right. We need good quality, well designed new homes — including enough family homes with gardens. We can do this at densities of around 50 homes per hectare. There's been welcome progress recently in raising average densities of new homes (this has reached 40 homes per hectare) but there are places where this increase has come entirely through building more flats — and other places where housebuilders still get away with wastefully low densities.

Encourage urban regeneration
We need stronger policies for urban regeneration, so that more people will want to live in our cities (rather than quit them for smaller towns and villages), and stronger policies to prevent the greater South East of England from over-heating (sucking in ever more jobs and households, and leaving other regions further and further behind).

Lowering the speculative demand for housing
And finally, we need to look at whether we can lower the demand for housing — instead of concentrating only on its supply. Are we too obsessed with home ownership, too inclined to speculate on housing?