Homes on the right tracks: greening the Green Belt to solve the housing crisis

The housing crisis is arguably the biggest challenge facing economically successful cities. It has grown for decades and is now corroding social and inter-generational cohesion, increasing regional inequality, and hampering the economic growth of many of our largest cities as workers are forced out by a lack of homes. Official estimates suggest that we need to build at least 300,000 new homes each year to keep up with the soaring demand. But, despite recent increases in the number of homes built, policy makers have so far been unable to develop a comprehensive plan that delivers homes at the scale this country needs. This report, authored by academics from the LSE and UCL and published by Centre for Cities sets out detailed plans to release green belt around more than one thousand existing commuter rail stations and build more than two million new homes with fast connections into many of Britain’s largest cities.