Housing vision ''must focus on land supply'' - Commercial mortgages

08 November 2007

The House Builders'' Federation (HBF) has welcomed the government''s plans to increase the supply of housing, but warned that land would need to become available for developers.

Plans to build three million additional homes by 2020 were announced as part of the Queen''s speech this week, as the government seeks to combat rising house prices caused by a shortage of housing supply.

The executive chairman of the HBF, Stewart Baseley, called the measures "long overdue" but said the plans for housing and planning were good news for homebuilding.

"This is long-overdue recognition of the scale of the challenge we face to build the three million additional homes we need by 2020 while further improving environmental standards," he said.

"We welcome the opportunities to develop greener homes for the future through the expansion of the eco-towns programme."

But Mr Baseley warned that land availability would be the key issue.

"Above all, we now need to unlock the land needed to build the homes on the scale required across the country," he said.