Use public land for homes, LibDems say

Gordon Brown has pledged to build three million new homes by 2020, but house-building has collapsed as a result of the recession. Figures obtained by Sarah Teather, the Liberal Democrat housing spokesman, show that the Government owns 3,100 hectares of surplus land – an area equivalent in size to Slough. Separate figures kept by the Ministry of Defence show that the military owns another 1,585 hectares of empty land suitable for housing. Under government guidelines, land with housing on it can be sold within six months of falling empty, but may be left for three years if it does not contain property.  There are currently nearly two million people on housing waiting lists, but the level of new builds stood at just over 90,000 in the last financial year, compared to 156,000 the year before. Miss Teather said: ‘Ministers need to do a thorough audit of the surplus lands in their departments and work out what could be used to benefit homeless families.’