House of Cards will fall if all the Tories resign their positions

Financial Times
Tory councillors derail plan for homes in east
By Roger Blitz,
UK Affairs Editor
Published: December 14 2004 02:00

John Prescott's house-building strategy was dealt a further blow by Tory councillors after they succeeded in putting plans on hold to build 478,000 homes in the east of England.

The deputy prime minister has put responsibility for long-term housing strategies in the hands of unelected regional assemblies, made up of councillors and representatives from business and voluntary groups.

Assembly officials have been working with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on how regional strategies can reflect the government's aim of tackling chronic housing shortage in and around London.
But the Tory-led assembly in the south-east last month scaled back a target of 720,000 homes for the region and now the east of England regional assembly has also had second thoughts.
The assembly had agreed in October to endorse the 2001-21 target of 478,000 homes. But on Friday it backed a motion from the Conservative group on the assembly to suspend that endorsement after failing to win government guarantees on funding for infrastructure to support housing growth.

The public will be consulted on regional housing plans, which will also be examined by independent assessors. But the deputy prime minister has the final say on the actual targets to be maintained.

Brian Stewart, chief executive of the assembly, said the housing target was always conditional on infrastructure support. "The assembly has kept its side of the bargain, but the government hasn't kept its side," he said.

The assembly wanted £1.5bn from the government in affordable housing subsidies, transport improvements and other facilities to support local communities. But it said funding for new transport, including roads, was "grossly inadequate".

Similarly, the south-east assembly cited lack of government guarantees on infrastructure when it voted to agree to only around two-thirds of the 720,000 target set by its officers.

In a letter to the east of England assembly, Lord Rooker, the regeneration minister, said he recognised some new transport schemes had been put back, but that "given finite resources, difficult decisions have to be taken on priorities between investment proposals". He admitted: "Unless infrastructure keeps in step with growth, we will not achieve sustainable communities."

The Campaign to Protect Rural England, which is alarmed at the amount of housebuilding planned outside urban areas, welcomed the east of England assembly's "belated" stand against government growth targets. But questioned its desire for new roads. "More roads aren't the answer - they would simply make it worse," said Henry Oliver of the campaign.

With the Tory-led regional assemblies hardening their stance against the government, the debate on housing growth is dividing on party lines. Michael Howard, Tory leader, has called on Tony Blair to abolish the regional assemblies, while the prime minister has challenged Tory councillors to resign their assembly positions.