Ben Hopkinson

Amid the back and forth during today’s Spring Statement over who really crashed Britain’s economy, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published a 180 page document that makes grim reading for Labour and anyone looking to get on the housing ladder. Labour was elected with a pledge to build 1.5 million homes during its term. Backing the builders not the blockers has become the number one priority for the current government. That OBR document pours cold water on that ambition. It projects that 1.3 million homes will be built from now until the end of the decade. But that’s across the entire UK and Labour’s pledge only applies to England. It is likely that 1.1 million of those homes will be built in England, leaving Labour 400,000 homes short of their goal.

The idea of a ‘Lower Thames Crossing’ was first mentioned in Parliament 36 years ago. Fourteen years ago, the government made building it a ‘national priority’. Yet the Lower Thames Crossing only received planning permission today. The time it has had to take to get to this point reveals a lot about how Britain’s planning system is broken and is making us poorer. There’s only one way to cross the Thames east of London today – through the Dartford Crossing. Unsurprisingly, it is one of the most congested roads in Britain. It is designed to handle 135,000 vehicles a day, but it currently averages around 160,000 and the busiest days see more than 200,000 vehicles drive (slowly) over it. That is why a second crossing is so necessary.