Government plans to ease the housing shortage by developing brownfield sites have been hit hard by news that there is much less land available than previously thought.
The regeneration body entrusted with carrying out the feasibility study, English Partnerships, found that only 11% of the 65,000 hectares of brownfield land is either available or financially viable for new house building.
Commenting, Pierre Williams, spokesman for the Housebuilding Association, said: “It is of concern that with the strategy well under way, the vital detail is only now being examined as to whether house building can take place. It is ironic that while Government admits housing undersupply is a root cause of rapid house price inflation, subsidy for more affordable housing uses up much of the limited amount of public finance available required to improve infrastructure and make more brownfield sites viable for housing.”
