New housing developments forcing people to rely on cars

New housing developments have increasingly locked residents into car dependency over the last 15 years, a new report from the New Economics Foundation (NEF), sponsored by Go Ahead, has found.

In a major new study, the think tank analysed data from every neighbourhood in England to develop a Car Dependency Index (CDI). The analysis combines data on car ownership, the share of residents commuting to work by car, the relative travel times to jobs and key amenities by car and public transport, and population density.

The CDI shows that over the last 15 years homes were increasingly built in places where people were reliant on cars for transport. The trend towards car dependency is present in every region outside of London.

The public transport travel times from England’s new homes to town centres, jobs, hospitals and schools have risen steadily over the same period, making it harder for people to travel sustainably. The report argues that forcing people into car dependency will have a significant negative impact on the government’s ability to meet carbon emissions targets,boost active travel and support inclusive economic growth.

An increase in homes being built in rural areas is identified by the report as a key reason for the increase in car dependency. Rural areas make up one sixth of England’s population but accounted for one in four new homes built since 2018. The research reveals a stark difference in the average time taken to reach key amenities on public transport from new builds built in rural areas compared to urban. In 2023, the average public transport time from new builds in rural areas was:

• 62 minutes to the nearest hospital (compared with 28 minutes from new builds in urban areas).
• 37 minutes to the nearest supermarket (compared with 12 minutes from new builds in urban areas).
• 43 minutes to the nearest secondary school (compared with 17 minutes from new builds in urban areas).

The availability of cheap greenfield land and low levels of political opposition to new developments in more remote areas has led to more house-building in rural areas. The report argues that another key driver of car dependency was the location of new urban homes, which has increasingly favoured the worst-connected areas on the fringes of towns and smaller cities.

Emmet Kiberd, researcher, NEF said:

“Everybody wants to live in a place where it’s easy for them to access what they need for a good life. But across the country, millions have little choice but to use their car to get to work, access healthcare and take their kids to school. This car dependency is expensive for individuals, damaging for the health of communities, and impeding our ability to tackle the climate crisis.

“Years of poor planning and inadequate funding for public transport have locked us into this mess. But, as it looks to build 1.5m new homes, the government should reverse this trend, avoid making the same mistakes in its grey belt policy, and integrate transport planning within housing planning. In doing so it will help tackle the cost of living crisis, reduce inequalities, and bring down carbon emissions.”

To tackle the trend of car dependency, the report recommends:

• Using data-informed, strategic planning at a regional level to decide on the best location for new build developments, with democratic input from residents
• The integration of transport planning with housing planning as well as proper funding for sustainable transport infrastructure in new areas
• Making the release of grey belt for housing developments conditional on the provision of good levels of public transport.
• Giving powers and funding to local government over the compulsory purchase of land at, or close to, use value for development.
• Restoring funding to local authority planning departments to improve their capacity and capabilities.

ENDS

Notes

NEF’s Car Dependency Index (CDI) combines data on five measures for every Lower layer Super Output Area (LSOA) in England, giving each area a score from 0 (areas of lowest car dependency) to 100 (areas of highest car dependency). The data used in the CDI are as follows:

The location of housing by date of construction was sourced from the EPC dataset and from the Valuation Office Agency /​Datadaptive dataset.

Figure 1: Median CDI for all new dwellings in England since 2009 (inclusive), by region and period of completion (N = 2,672,239).