Housing is now one of the most acute domestic policy issues of our time. Existing policy is struggling to deliver new housing on the necessary scale and with local support. There is a need for new thinking to help create a long-term framework that delivers the right number of homes, of the right quality, in the right place.

This project looked at the fundamentals of planning policy, tracing the history of planning controls and subsequent reforms, examining how new housing has been provided over the past few decades, assessing the scale and nature of the demand for affordable housing, and framing the fundamental question: how can more homes be built while maintaining essential countryside protections, as well as public and political support for necessary changes?

We wanted to arrive at practical solutions for reform. The project aimed to get into the detail of planning rules and guidance, from the proposed new National Planning Policy Framework downward, in order to make realistic suggestions to improve the quality and quantity of new homes.