Affordable Housing

Andrew George
16. To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made on implementation of the recommendations of the Barker review on affordable housing.

John Healey
Good progress has been made on implementing the recommendations contained in the Barker Review of Housing Supply.

The Government set out, in the last pre-Budget report, an ambitious agenda to raise the level of house-building to 200,000 new homes a year over the next decade, making housing more affordable.

So far we have succeeded in driving up housing supply, with new house building in England reaching 160,000 in 2005, the highest level since 1990.

We have set out major reforms to encourage housing growth including a new Planning Policy Statement for Housing to bring forward more land in response to demand, and a planning gain supplement to help fund infrastructure to support growth.