PM reveals brownfield building plans

The prime minister has unveiled plans to boost the supply of housing in the UK by building three million homes by 2020, with much of the development set to use brownfield sites.

Gordon Brown has told Parliament that the government will build over 250,000 more homes than had originally been planned, with annual building targets rising from 200,000 to 240,000 until 2016.

Surplus public land will also be a focal point of the new development initiatives, Mr Brown revealed, with 550 publicly owned brownfield sites to be released by the government.

"In two eras of the last century - the interwar years and the 1950s onwards - Britain made new housebuilding a national priority. Now through this decade and right up to 2020 I want us - in environmentally friendly ways using principally brownfield land and building eco towns and villages - to meet housing need," the prime minister announced.

Earlier this week housing minister Yvette Cooper said it should be down to individual councils to decide on the best location for new homes in their area, brownfield or otherwise.


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