A reform of the planning system to allow every village, town and city to have high-quality housing would be more sustainable than building new settlements, it has been claimed.
The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) also said that demand for housing was not confined to new settlements but was prevalent across the whole of the UK.
A recent report by the National House-Building Council found that 42 per cent of builders believe that zero-carbon homes will cost more to buy than standard homes.
Brian Berry, director of external affairs at FMB, said: "We do need more homes but we are against creating new settlements such as the government's eco towns.
"We think it would be better to actually reform the planning system and to allow every village, town and city to have new builds because housing demand is not just in new settlements it’s actually right across the country."
The Construction Products Association has said more land is needed if the government is to meet its target of 240,000 new zero carbon homes per year.
See Also: Property News (6705)
Date Published: 02 May 2008
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