A recent pledge by prime minister Gordon Brown to increase the affordable housing supply by three million homes over the next 13 years has prompted some government departments to report on the supply of land available to be consider for planning.

Anyone looking for planning jobs may be interested in interested to read a statement released by Communities and Local Government (CLG) which states that 470 sites have thus far been identified as potential locations for homebuilding.

The department hopes that the land will contribute to the government target of 240,000 homes to be constructed yearly until 2016.

Housing minister Yvette Cooper commented: "We need to build more houses for the next generation, and we’ve made clear that brownfield sites are the priority for this.

"This is why we’ve been working with the Department for Transport to identify further surplus sites and I am delighted that we can today announce 470 sites that could contribute to the pressing need for more homes."

Meanwhile, responding to the government green paper on the housing crisis, not-for-profit organisation Help the Aged has suggested that for construction works to represent a sustainable efficiency, a focus should be maintained on making the new homes conform to the Lifetime Homes Standard.