Barker review of housing supply

1 January 2005

The Government's Barker Report focusses on getting more houses built in Britain. The report's proposals for how to do this blatantly ignore the environment, sustainable development and the idea that people should have a proper stake in decisions about their area.

Please see our briefing (PDF† - 159K) for full details.

Supply and Demand

The Barker Report has recommended a new and complex way of boosting housing levels based on the demands of the housing market.

The report's simplistic solution to a complex problem is to increase the amount of housing provided in the hope that this will stabilise or bring down the price of housing.

The Market rules OK

Touted as a solution to the UK's lack of housing, the Barker review does nothing for people excluded from the housing market. It simply leaves decisions about housing levels in any area to private developers and to the vagaries of the housing market.

Yet, house prices rise and fall for all sorts of reasons. The amount of housing available in an area at any one time is only one factor.

The Government are relying on the same housing market which has effectively led to hundreds of thousands of people being excluded from the market.

And, arguably, it is the same system that has added to the lack of proper affordable housing for people in real need.

There is growing concern about these plans, including from MPs Vol 1 (PDF† 447 KB), Vol 2 (PDF† 2.09MB).

If Gordon Brown and John Prescott insist on implementing the Barker Report's recommendations:

• Democracy will suffer as local councils are forced to release land for housing whether they like it or not
• Depending on the vagaries of the housing market, there could be an unending demand for land for housing, squeezing out other important uses
• Pressure will grow on already hard pressed environments in south and east England
• The economic 'gap' between the greater south east and the rest of the UK is likely to expand not close
• There is no guarantee that people in greatest need will benefit
• Public discontent will rise and people will realise that they have no meaningful role in the planning of their area
• Our environment could be trashed simply to fulfil the narrow demands of house builders and a few economic theorists

More information

Useful resources on the Barker review of housing, including Friends of the Earth's latest briefing.