<p>Government plans to increase housing in the south east by 200,000 will be “a drop in the ocean” unless they are more than doubled, according to a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).</p> <p>The report, Would you live here? Making the growth areas communities of choice, suggests that 217,000 more homes than the government’s estimates will be needed by 2016 to meet demand in the four designated south east growth areas. IPPR head of social policy Jim Bennett said: “Without a huge boost in the ambitions of this project, there will still be a desperate shortage of housing in the south east and in ten years time we will look back on the ‘growth areas’ as a drop in the ocean.”</p> <p>He added that new development had to be accompanied by sufficient infrastructure to avoid the creation of “sink estates.” Said Bennett: “This is one of the keys. We are not just talking about transport. Community and retail facilities are also needed alongside an economic development strategy so the majority of people aren’t commuting.”</p> <p>The IPPR report estimates the cost of this infrastructure to be £300 million a year up to 2016. HBF head of planning Andrew …