The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has analysed the Government’s brownfield registers pilot scheme. Employing a variety of conservative methodologies, CPRE now estimates that the available data translates to a minimum of 1.1 million homes on suitable brownfield sites across England. More ambitious methodologies put the figure much higher, towards 1.4 million. This suggests that the Government has previously severely underestimated brownfield capacity.

It is clear that there needs to be a significant increase in the provision of affordable housing – in both urban and rural areas. This briefing suggests what might be done to achieve this objective while ensuring that the countryside is protected from unnecessary development and the best use is made of existing urban land and buildings. It defines the extent and nature of affordable housing needs, challenges some of the myths surrounding the issue, and proposes measures that might be adopted nationally and locally to tackle it.

The first paper in CPRE's Housing Foresight series explores how the dominance of volume house builders is having potentially harmful impacts on the supply, location and design of new housing in England. It shows that greater support for small and medium sized house builders can help meet demand for housing and protect green spaces by delivering new homes - including through custom/self build - on smaller brownfield sites. The paper proposes four policy options: promoting small-scale brownfield sites; funding smaller builders; simplifying small applications; and the use of design codes.

The sixth paper in CPRE Housing Foresight series explores how effective coordination between transport and development can improve access to public transport, reduce pollution and encourage walking and cycling. The paper proposes ideas for identifying suitable sites, incentivising development and engaging local communities in the process.

The seventh paper in CPRE's Housing Foresight series looks at the crucial role landowners can play in helping to fix the rural affordable housing crisis. The paper explores how landowners can invest in affordable housing to benefit their communities, and looks at ways in which the Government can make it easier for them do so.

We commissioned independent consultants Green Balance to conduct research into the relationship between planning, housing land supply and housing affordability. Our research found that increasing the supply of land for housing would make little difference to housebuilding rates or house prices. The report makes some recommendations which need to be reflected in future Government policy on housing needs.

With recent statistics showing that housing development is decreasing on previously developed sites but increasing on the Green Belt, Removing obstacles to brownfield development calls for Government to implement a range of inventive policies to realise the potential of brownfield house building.

The paper calls for:

• the taxation of uncompleted housing for which planning permission has been granted on brownfield land;
• improved funding and assistance for brownfield remediation;
• special planning measures and state intervention to aid redevelopment;
• and the increased use of tax increment financing.

Our new research has found that housing assessments produced by local authorities (SHMAs) are inaccurate, inflated and unreliable. The housing figures produced by SHMAs are not being balanced with sensible planning for infrastructure, consideration of environmental constraints, and realistic assessments of what housebuilders will be able to deliver.

The full report is also available: Smarter SHMAs: A Review of Objectively Assessed Need in England