Government has faltered on supply and demand housing calculations

Even in the South East, where demand for housing is highest, 26% of suitable brownfield plots were unused by 2009, the report said.

The Government's impact assessment for the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) concluded that there is a shortage of brownfield land suitable for housing development.

CPRE said that there is sufficient brownfield land available that is suitable for residential development for 1.5 million new homes. This is equivalent to around six years supply at the rate of building that the Government claims is needed, CPRE said.

The research also concluded that the supply of brownfield land is growing at a faster rate than it is being used up, with only three out of every five suitable plots being used for housing between 2000 and 2009.

Housing Minister Grant Shapps announced in June that the "Government plans to release enough public land to build as many as 100,000 new, much-needed homes" by 2015.

This was followed by a Government announcement made yesterday that further suitable land for release had been found. “The Government made it clear that we can only solve the housing crisis by building more homes. That is why we are determined to bring forward derelict brownfield land that the government holds," Housing minister Grant Shapps said.

"The [Government’s] idea that we’re running out of brownfield land is a myth," Neil Sinden, director of policy and campaigns at CPRE. "Developing new housing on appropriate brownfield land first is the most environmentally, socially and economically sustainable option and should be a central strand of the NPPF."

Research by estate agency Savills has also found that there could be a demand and supply mismatch among sites that have been made available from the public sector land initiative. It said that the distribution of the land released under the Government’s initiative is situated mostly in "lower market" locations, where the land is cheaper and less frequently traded.

Of the 10 acres of public land that the Government has released, just 35% is located in higher value markets. However, over the past four years, 79% of land has traded in the higher value markets, Savills said.

"The 65% of surplus public sector land in the lower-value markets has the potential to meet excess housing demand. However, there is likely to be less land value on these sites, to be shared among planning obligations, Community Infrastructure Levy, and land value to the Government department," said Jim Ward, residential research director at Savills.

"This is a classic case where joined-up government is needed to meet the right balance of policy objectives," Ward said.