New garden city 'needed in drive to build 1.5m new homes by 2020'

At least new one garden city should be created in England as part of an ambitious programme to build 1.5m new homes by the year 2020, a think-tank says today.

Policy Exchange argues that whoever wins the next election should commit to the construction of 300,000 properties a year as a way of bringing down house prices and rent charges.

It says new garden cities - which have been supported by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg - would act as "beacons" for development.

Policy Exchange also calls for councils which fail to achieve their house-building targets should be required to release land to local people who want to design their own homes.