‘Build baby, build’ is not the answer to the housing crisis

CPRE Sussex Director’s column written for The Argus, 18 November 2025

Sussex is in a housing crisis. The government says the solution is to build more homes and to achieve this it needs to bulldoze the planning system and rip up protections for nature. But this “build baby, build” approach does not make sense.

The “housing crisis” is primarily a crisis of affordability. Brighton & Hove is one of the least affordable areas for private rent in the country.  Social housing waiting lists in rural Sussex districts are increasing. The average property price across the county is more than 10 times the average wage.

Private developers building new homes will not solve these problems. New builds cost, on average, 10% more than existing homes. To make a major difference to house prices, you would need to bring large numbers of new homes to the market at once.

But there is no incentive for developers to do this. In fact, developers prefer to drip-feed new, low-quality homes, onto the market and build these homes on greenfield sites to protect their profit margins. There are more than 1 million potential new homes across the UK that have been granted planning permission and not yet built.

What has driven house prices increases is not simply a lack of supply, or a planning system which approves nearly 90% of applications. It is how much money has been pumped into the market.

There is also a lack of publicly-built-and-owned housing stock. Brighton & Hove is a rare positive – buying up existing stock to rent out – but we need a new approach.

Tearing down safeguards

For the past 50 years there has been an over reliance on the private sector to build homes. This approach has failed. Blaming it all on the planning system is politically easy – but it does not deliver change. In fact, it is the planning system that creates some, limited, safeguards around affordability.

By attacking the planning system, the government is removing protections for affordability, nature, environment and local democratic control.

Housing secretary Steve Reed typifies this with his Trump-echoing “Build, baby, build” slogan and social media posts depicting environmental defenders as “traitors”. Chancellor Rachel Reeves recently boasted about unblocking 20,000 homes in Sussex she said were being stopped by “some snails”. The snails in question were one indicator of the ecological health of the Arun Valley and the development had previously been blocked over concerns the area could run out of water.

Amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill

The government’s controversial Planning and Infrastructure Bill is now in its final stages. It is designed for the benefit of big private companies – not those struggling to pay their rent.

However, there is a glimmer of hope. The House of Lords has proposed four amendments which would go some way to mitigate the most misguided elements of the bill.

These amendments are critical to safeguard local democracy, create sustainable places for people to live and stop development from destroying legally-protected habitats and wildlife. It is vital they are not stripped out by the government.

This is the last chance to influence the Planning and Infrastructure Bill before it passes into law and we are calling on MPs to stand up for nature and accept the amendments.

Read more about our views on housing reform and the Planning and Infrastructure Bill via The Argus here .