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ECO-TOWNS “IRRELEVANT” TO UK HOUSING AND ENVIRONMENT

The Government’s plans for eco-towns make a “derisory” contribution to housing need and are irrelevant to the environmental challenges facing Britain, the Optimum Population Trust says today (Monday June 30).

In its submission to the Department for Communities and Local Government consultation on eco-towns, which closes today, the OPT says 15 million more houses will be required in the next seven decades to cater for projected population growth - an increase of 60 per cent on current housing numbers and equivalent in housing terms to almost five more Londons.

Yet on the Government’s own figures, the eco-towns programme will provide, at best, under 100,000 houses and probably many fewer. This is equivalent, at most, to less than one per cent (0.65 per cent) of long-term housing need.

“Set against the projected need for another 15 million [dwellings], this is an insignificant – indeed, almost derisory – figure. In that sense the eco-towns programme is at best an irrelevance, at worst a distraction from the real task in hand - securing sustainable population levels,” the OPT says.

Population growth is by far the biggest factor in the predicted increase in demand for housing, accounting for at least 59 per cent, according to the Office for National Statistics: the trend towards smaller households, for example, accounts for only 17 per cent. Driven mainly by net in-migration, the UK population is projected to rise by 24 million to 85 million by 2081 - an increase of nearly 40 per cent.

“By itself, this is a massively unsustainable figure, which will have devastating implications for the UK environment and quality of life. At the same time, however, average household size is just over 2 persons and declining,” OPT says.

“The consequences are alarming. At projected household formation rates, a population of 85 million would require over 40 million homes - 15 million more than the current total of some 25 million. Since there are something over three million houses and flats in London, the UK will be faced in housing terms with building nearly five more Londons to cope with current population projections.”

OPT says eco-towns will consume valuable rural land needed for food production, add disproportionately to travel figures and greenhouse gas emissions and end up as “dormitory” towns for commuters, at a time when the world is facing the challenge of peak oil. They may also “inadvertently” perpetuate population growth.

It says the Government should minimise future demand for housing by developing a clear “green” strategy to achieve a sustainable level of population for the UK. England is by some measures the world’s fourth most densely populated country, with overcrowding affecting quality of life and damaging the habitat of other species.

“Without a population strategy, Government faces a long and hopeless rearguard action - reacting to the social and environmental problems resulting from uncontrolled population growth rather than managing for a sustainable future,” it says.

Sue Birley, OPT chair, added: “The more closely you examine the eco-towns proposals, the more they look like greenwash. Taking increasing amounts of potentially productive rural land for buildings makes precious little environmental sense in an age of growing resource insecurity – especially if you are failing to address the root of the problem. It’s also very bad news for wildlife and biodiversity. We need to recognise that population growth is the main engine of housing demand and act urgently to restrain it.”

The OPT’s submission can be viewed at

http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.sub.ecotowns.June08.pdf