21st Century Challenges

Concreting the countryside

May 2008

How should we accommodate the housing expansion in London and SE England? Should we be building on greenfield or brownfield land?

Watch the talks

Boris Johnson to end London’s hobbit habit with 50,000 new homes

The Mayor of London refused to scale back his housing targets despite gloom in the sector, because while times were “incredibly difficult”, it “doesn’t mean for a second that we should abandon our ambitions”.

Build 100,000 affordable new homes in next two years, government told

Newly formed 2020 Group says building mroe homes would boost economy and save thousands of jobs

Number of new homes ‘needs to more than double’ to meet population demand by 2031

The number of new homes being built needs to more than double to meet population demand by 2031, official figures are likely to show today

House prices ‘could fall by further 55 per cent’

House prices may fall by a further 55 percent and there is a "very real probability" that Britain will be bankrupted, a leading investment bank has warned in a private note to clients.

Eco-towns plan undermined by official report

Gordon Brown’s plans for a generation of 10 new “eco-towns” have been further undermined after their financial prospects were questioned for the first time by the government’s own advisers.

Eco-towns cannot go ahead without support of local community say townhalls

Eco-towns could be illegal because of a failure to consult properly, according to legal advice given to town halls.

No 10 denies ‘housing cash row’

Downing Street has denied reports that there is no agreement over funding for Gordon Brown's plan to build an extra 20,000 affordable homes in two years.

Four sites to become ‘eco towns’

The locations of four new "eco-towns" have been announced as part of scaled-down government plans. They are Rackheath, Norfolk; north west Bicester, Oxfordshire; Whitehill Bordon, East Hants; and the China Clay Community near St Austell, Cornwall.