Build more...much much more

It never fails to amuse me that the people who object to new houses all live in houses. In more than ten years of working in the field, I have never come across a homeless person, beggar or student who objected to new housing. Psychologists call it cognitive dissonance - the ability to hold two opposing thoughts at the same time. I live in a house but I don’t want others to live in one – at least not near me.

The housing shortage is now so acute piecemeal solutions are no longer viable. Building two dozen flats on a former garage site is only scratching at the problem. As is knocking down perfectly good three and four-bedroom houses in the suburbs with large gardens and calling them brownfield sites. This is sure to rile the well-heeled suburban NIMBYs and lose votes for politicians.

No. The solution must now be radical. As radical as the New Towns initiative of the 1960s. If we are to achieve three million homes – as Gordon Brown suggests – we will not lay a glove on it by building 20 flats here and 20 flats there – even though their contribution is important.

The solution must be radical. As radical as the New Towns initiative of the 1960s

What we need are more Milton Keynes – well-designed, modern functional living areas where people can have a decent home. And before we get into the debate about the design merits of Milton Keynes, nowadays we have CABE to make sure they are built to the highest standards.

Sure, there will be bleats from some pressure groups who mostly represent the well-heeled gentry. But we must remember that only ten per cent of the UK is built upon. There’s loads of land out there and only a small proportion of it is Green Belt

What we need are large settlements, and I mean mini-cities, with first-class infrastructure. Sure, we will also need the major regeneration schemes to freshen up towns and to breathe new life into them. But that is only replacing what already exists. And we also need the smaller schemes.

But major new build is the way to reach that magic three million mark and take pressure off existing communities and their attendant NIMBYs.