Unpublished Letter To The Telegraph

Sir,

The Planning Officers Society contributes to the current scaremongering surrounding changes to the planning system by claiming that house prices will be driven down by the Government's reforms, in yesterday's front page article.

Housebuilders build homes in areas where people are willing and able to buy them; largely places which are prosperous, with strong employment opportunities and demand from buyers with deposits and stable incomes. Our research shows that areas with higher rates of new development consistently record higher house price growth. Investment by a developer attracts new residents with spending power, which in turn attract other businesses and investment in services to cater for their needs, bringing a boost to the entire area.

Using data from the Department for Communities and Local Government, we compared housebuilding levels with average house price growth across all nine English regions. In all cases there was a strong positive correlation between the number of new homes built in a region and the rate of house price growth. On average over the last year, each region saw house price growth of 0.63% for every 1,000 new homes completed in that area.

The facts tell us that housebuilding makes a significant and lasting contribution to building prosperous local economies.

Steve Lees,

SmartNewHomes

Wrexham, UK

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