Keir Starmer's newly elected government has made big promises about increasing housing supply in England without properly explaining why it wants to do so, writes Peter Apps.

Last week saw the UK's new government spell out its priorities in the King's Speech, with housing grabbing most of the headlines. Keir Starmer's Labour Party won the general election with a manifesto generally light on specifics, but it did make one very clear promise in this regard: 1.5 million new homes will be built in England over the course of his first term.
This is a tough target. It would represent a 50 per cent increase on today's output at a time when the numbers are trending down. A stodgy housing market, a major skills shortage, an MMC [modern methods of construction] industry that appears dead in the water, a financial crisis in the social housing sector, a highly volatile global supply chain and half a dozen other macroeconomic factors will make it very hard to achieve. Amid a lot of debate a more fundamental question is rarely asked: why do it at all"
But amid a lot of debate about whether and how the new government should best approach the challenge, a more fundamental question is rarely asked, namely: why do it at all" There is a political consensus about increasing house building, but far less agreement about what we want an increased volume of house building to achieve.
In short, and to use slightly annoying business lingo, 1.5 million homes represents an output, not an ou...