Growth of UK cities 'stifled' by lack of affordable housing

The economic growth of some of the UK's best-performing cities risks being "stifled" by a lack of affordable housing, a new report warned today.

New incentives should be offered to local authorities to build more homes, complaining that councils are not offering up enough land for housing, research group Centre for Cities said.

A study found that house building rates in Brighton were 55% below the average for England, 29% in Guildford, 21% in London, 16% in Cambridge and 5% in Reading.

If the whole of England was a football pitch, all the built-up land would be in the penalty area, mostly made up of gardens, roads, paths and railways. Housing would cover just a third of the centre circle, said the report.

The report said: "If we don't build enough houses this risks choking off economic growth in our most dynamic cities, preventing the workforce from moving to where jobs can be found and where incomes are high, ultimately curbing national economic growth.

"The Government's house building targets and regional planning has had only limited success. Councils in cities with strong economies need real rewards to bring forward land to build more houses where people want to live."

The group called for the scrapping of a target of 60% of homes having to be built on brownfield land and said responsibility for protecting the green belt should be devolved to local authorities.

Dermot Finch, Chief Executive of the Centre for Cities said: "Over the past 50 years housing has become more and more unaffordable. During this time nowhere near enough homes have been built, particularly in our most dynamic cities like Cambridge and Reading.

"The decade-long push to build on brownfield has run its course. Over the next decade, local authorities will need new incentives to build houses where they are needed. This also means a fresh look at the green belt.

"It's a myth that the entire green belt is a picture postcard rural idyll. A very small slice of it could be used for housing.

"We are not suggesting cities should concrete over their green belt, and we are not advocating car-dependent urban sprawl, but we do need to free up more land for new homes, especially in our most buoyant cities."

A Communities and Local Government Department spokesman said: "Regional blueprints are in place to ensure homes get built as part of the long-term plan for an area, supporting investment and growth.

"It is important to have brownfield targets so we can build homes in suitable locations where people want to live and work. The latest statistics show that 80% of housing development was on previously developed land.

"Councils are already given funding to plan and build more homes through the housing and planning delivery grant, introduced as an incentive to strengthen responses to local housing pressures by using the most efficient planning procedures.

"The Government is also supporting housing supply by ensuring local authorities have clear five-year land supply plans."