Gordon Brown’s first foray into new policy is to propose 100,000 new homes built in 5 eco towns, with local power generation and a mixture of public and private finance. it sounded an interesting proposition, until I heard the spin behind the announcement.

It was all part of a clever plan to upstage David Cameron. We were informed that this would outflank??his green position whilst offering something to the aspirational who find it difficult to buy or rent a new home under this government. Some naive spin doctor went on to offer us more??of the same - a series of announcements to??upstage the Leader of the Opposition.

??For heaven’s sake! I thought we were moving on from the spin of the Blair era. Government is about solving problems, creating a framework of rules and taxes that allows the private sector to deliver most goods and services, and running good public services where the state needs to be involved. An announcement about housing should not be about creating impressions that might overshadow a poltiical opponent. It should be about the chronic shortage of housing for younger buyers.

The government should begin by admitting that the current rate of immigration is too fast, placing too much strain on a crowded island with limited places for new building. It should take action to control it.

It should admit that the average age for buying a first home has soared under this government because it has not tackled the problem of housing availability well.

It should then acknowledge that the main thing holding the market back from responding to housing demand is the availability of planning permissions. There’s plenty of money out there to build more properties if the sites are available.

The government should then decide where it is going to place the new towns or cities that it wishes to build. I have suggested expanding the Thames gateway projects into a new city, including construction on reclaimed estuarial land. What??are the government’s proposals? Where will they build all the extra homes we need to keep up with their rapid rate of immigration? The main issue is not how we generate the power for the new developments, but where we allow them, given the sensitivities in many parts of the country about major new development.

??I doubt if Brown’s eco towns, if they are ever built, will be anything like as advanced in the green direction as the Chinese eco cities which first launched this idea. In those there will be drinking water and seperate grey water supplies for other uses, the recycling of waste water, photovoltaics and green roofs on homes, a prohibition on landfill dumping of waste, electric or hydrogen vehicles only and windmills helping generate power.

I am all in favour of the UK making more moves in the direction of greater fuel efficiency in the home, higher standards of insulation, and better recycling facilities. The disappointment in Gordon Brown’s announcement is that is probably just another piece of Labour spin.

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