Housebuilding rise will not solve lack of homes problem

The Barker Review on housing supply, due to be published later this month, provides no solid evidence of an undersupply of new homes in the UK.

Nor is there any evidence that a massive increase in housebuilding would solve the problem of the lack of homes people on lower incomes can afford.

These are the headline conclusions of a challenging analysis of Kate Barker's review, published by the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) today (Friday). 

CPRE's director of policy Neil Sinden said: "This research asks the simple question - are too few new houses built in the UK? - and comes up with some startling answers.

"It argues that the Barker Review does not demonstrate an under-supply of housing, even in London and the south east. It also argues that the additional release of greenfield land for housing development is unlikely to reduce house price volatility or to ensure affordable housing is supplied to those people who most need it.  

"It is critical that the Government takes note of the findings of this research and avoids superficially attractive but ultimately fruitless solutions to housing problems," he said.

"Rather than boosting housebuilding by relaxing greenfield constraints and increasing urban sprawl across the countryside, we need new measures to increase the provision of affordable housing and to redouble our efforts to promote the regeneration of existing urban areas."