ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the requirement for new housing in some depth. The interventions of public providers such as housing associations, and directly of the planning system, are marginal. The sensitivity of provision for very large numbers of extra dwellings, related to a figure of 4.4 million extra households by 2016, continues to grow and in many ways to dominate the politics of the planning system. The planning system is notably fragmented and uneven in the influence it can have. The major gap is that most people’s housing needs are met through the market, whether through renting or buying. The Government should, even if shy of producing a fully integrated policy towards housing, state what principles it will apply in its own areas of competence. To arrive at a true resolution between national and lower levels rather than merely substitute the lower-level estimates for the higher would however require political structures to be in place to allow mediation of the figures.
