Meeting Housing Need in the South East

Article

This fifth working Paper of the Commission on Sustainable Development in the South East discusses the impact of current housing development in the South East and makes recommendations for sustainable development policies.

Housing faces the same set of issues as any other area of public policy in terms of how to set priorities between competing objectives given constraints on resources. Since 1997, government policy has evolved around several objectives, all with significant implications for resources.

As summarised in the ODPM Five Year Plan, the Barker Review suggested four reasons why housing completions had been on a downward trend since the 1960s:

  • an inadequate supply of land due in large part to problems with the planning system
  • a lack of infrastructure investment to support housing development
  • the complex nature of sites for development
  • a sharp fall in the number of new social homes.

This paper addresses these issues in some depth.

Related items

  1. Street scene in financial district, London

    Rule of the market: How to lower UK borrowing costs

    The UK is paying a premium on its borrowing costs that ‘economic fundamentals’, such as the sustainability of its public finances, cannot fully explain. 
  2. A mother and child from behind looking out of a window

    Restoring security: Understanding the effects of removing the two-child limit across the UK

    The government’s decision to lift the two-child limit marks one of the most significant changes to the social security system in a decade.
  3. A group of healthcare professionals sitting in a staff common room in a hospital in Newcastle

    Building a healthier, wealthier Britain: Launching the IPPR Centre for Health and Prosperity

    Following the success of our Commission on Health and Prosperity, IPPR is excited to launch the Centre for Health and Prosperity.