Survation polling for Babelfish finds more people back than oppose charging housebuilders council tax on consented land they haven't built on. 49% back brownfield.
Dale Vince: 1.4m brownfield homes could spark a boom
New CEBR analysis for Babelfish finds 1.4m homes could be built on brownfield land, adding 0.9% to GDP a year for a decade. Half already have planning permission.
A massive housebuilding programme could kick-start an economic boom and provide hundreds of thousands of jobs, says campaigner Dale Vince.
Today the activist publishes independent analysis that proves the creation of 1.4 million homes on brownfield sites is an achievable goal – and could help Britain bounce back from two decades of austerity.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research has identified enough plots on land already earmarked by local government for housing-led development – and half of them even have planning permission.
Vince says there would be a "massive contribution" of 0.9% to GDP per year for ten years and if the plan had already gone ahead it could have nearly doubled UK GDP this year.
Andy Burnham's incoming Labour administration needs to be tough in taking on the "Big 5" housebuilders sitting on masses of unbuilt land – and it needs to bring in laws that severely punish those who drag their feet on a commitment to build.
Vince added: "This is a massive opportunity, half the 1.4million brownfield homes we found are already consented, the other half will be easily so – building them all won't just ease our chronic housing shortage it will supercharge our economy.
"Andy's instinct and ambition is right – here's the economic evidence that it's also very much a good business decision – for the whole nation."
Other relevant stories
New CEBR research for Babelfish: 1.4m brownfield homes would unleash £259bn and return £1.92 for every £1 spent. The big five sit on 869,000 plots instead.
Britain's big five sit on 869,000 plots worth £275bn and build slowly to keep prices high. Start the rates clock the day permission is granted.
Barratt Redrow, Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, Vistry and Bellway hold 869,000 plots between them. Taylor Wimpey's landbank alone would take 19.5 years to build out.
Babelfish commissioned CEBR to map England's brownfield sites. The result: 1.4m homes, £259bn in economic value and 370,000 jobs a year for a decade.