HC Deb 26 February 2002 vol 380 cc1182-3W
Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact on travel patterns of the housebuilding targets. [37276]

Mr. Byers

It is not this Government's policy to set housebuilding targets. The new annual rates of regional housing provision and their distribution are set through Regional Planning Guidance. These are kept under regular review by the regional planning bodies.

The analysis carried out for the 10-year plan for transport included an adjustment to traffic levels, to reflect the expected impact of planning policies which aim to locate new development so as to reduce the need to travel.

The model we are now developing will be able to estimate more accurately the travel impacts of different geographical patterns of household location.