The Barker review of the UK housing market has recommended that the house building industry needs to improve by investing in skills and innovation.
The report, published in March this year, was the result of the UK's housing shortage, and what government saw as the inability of the housing market to respond to this. Report author Kate Barker, a member of the monetary policy committee, was also asked to look at the role of the house building industry, its capacity, technology and level of finance.

One of Barker's findings is that in 2001 around 175 000 houses were built in the UK. This is the lowest number since the second World War. Housing shortages have led to social problems. According to the review, there were 93 000 households in temporary accommodation in 2003 – compared to 46 000 in 1995.

As well as calling for improvements in the building industry, Barker also calls for changes to planning methods.

A regional planning executive should be set up to bring together regional planning and household boards.

Also the allocation of land needs to be brought more in line with the needs of the local area. If demand for housing is high, then reserves of land should be released.

Barker further recommends setting up a Community Infrastructure Fund of up to £200 million to cover infrastructure blockages and facilitate development.

Source

Building Sustainable Design