ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT ON HOUSING

That this House welcomes and supports the House of Commmons' Environmental Audit Committee's report Housing: Building a Sustainable Future and its conclusions that the Government's plans to increase the rate of housebuilding in this country pay far too little attention to environmental considerations; shares the concerns expressed in this report about the environmental impact of an increased rate of housebuilding; supports the Committee's assertion that no proposals further to increase housing supply should be taken forward without strong supporting evidence and consideration over overarching environmental limits; further supports the Committee's proposals that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister should maximise brownfield development and, where appropriate, housing densities; and calls on the Government to respond positively to the recommendations in the Committee's report.