Examination of Witnesses (Question Numbers
158-159)
MR PHIL
WOOLAS MP, MR
DARYL BROWN,
CAROLINE FLINT
MP AND MR
BOB LEDSOME
3 JUNE 2008
Q158 Chairman: Good morning and a warm
welcome to the committee. Thank you very much for coming. I will
suspense with any kind of formal introductions. May I ask this
question to start? Since we last looked at housing policies, which
was two years ago, the Government has increased its target for
new homes by 2020 quite substantially. Do you want to say why
the target has gone up so much?
Caroline Flint: As you and other
members of the committee will be aware, there was a report by
Kate Barker that looked into new housing supply. Based on that
report and a number of areas of evidence in terms of existing
stock but with a projection to new households, we were working
on an average of 223,000 new households each year up to 2026 and
240,000 per year by 2016 was seen as a responsible way forward,
given that there is a huge amount of housing need. There are also
connected issues which Kate Barker indicated around affordability.
That is not just an urban issue; it is a rural issue too. That
is the basis on which we are moving forward. It clearly is a challenge
but we do think we need to make sure that the direction of travel
recognises those two competing demands: affordability and the
need for homes for different types of family units, an ageing
population, more single-headed households than ever before, and
unlikely to change in the near future, if at all.
Q159 Chairman: We appreciate that
there is a number of reasons why we need more new homes. One of
the reasons which seems to have emerged is that there is an increase
in the aspirations for larger homes and larger gardens. Is that
really a sustainable reason? If you accept that as one of the
reasons why we need more, there is no end in sight at all, is
there?
Caroline Flint: If I heard you
correctly, is your question about the need for more housing and
people wanting bigger gardens with these homes?
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