Kate Barker to chair commission into England’s housing shortage

Dame Kate Barker is to lead a new commission into England’s housing shortage.

Barker, who led the Barker Review of Housing Supply in 2004, will chair the Radix Housing Commission on behalf of think tank Radix Big Tent, supported by law firm Shoosmiths.

It will focus on four “distinct but connected” issues: how to free up more land for development; the role of specialist housing, for example for students and older people; approaches to sustainability and ensuring affordability.

The Commission aims to issue recommendations soon after the general election which is anticipated for this year and must happen by January 2025. Its members include developers including Andrew Taylor, Vistry Group’s group planning director, investors, planners, academics and policy experts, alongside representatives of Shoosmiths and Radix.

For the last Labour government, Barker delved into housing supply and land use planning to produce her review, published in March 2004. She followed this with her review on Land Use Planning in 2006.

She said: “20 years on from leading a review of housing supply it’s depressing to find many of the problems identified still remain. A pragmatic rethink is overdue.”

Ben Rich, Radix Big Tent’s ceo, commented: “There is a …