Despite all this noise, the government lacks a coherent sustainable housing policy and is instead simply implementing a range of haphazard measures that either constitute unhelpful noise or which store up problems for unwary investors.

Today I'll get straight to the point. The British public needs to fall out of love with housing as an investment and start looking at their homes as being a place to live.

Last week, the Government published its new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Most commentators claim that they have squared the circle by protecting the green belt whilst simultaneously giving a presumption in favour of sustainable development.

For those of us involved in housing, the growth agenda is what matters. We understand how important growth is for the economy and how essential it is that we create new jobs, not least because so many housing associations are exploring ways of assisting their residents to get into work.

We can't be scared of being told, 'That has been done before' or 'what a silly idea'. Banging on the doors of government is no different, easier or harder than doing business and building relationships with other businesses. We just think that it is. But it's not.

A war is currently being waged in Britain. It is one that threatens to tear this sceptered isle in two, turning neighbour against neighbour and friends into enemies.

Here are some surprising statistics to start with: Average wages for people working in rural communities are £4,655 lower than the national average ...

According to The Department of Communities and Local Government there are more than 1.7million families on housing waiting lists. Considering that Local Authorities throughout England commissioned the building of just 380 new homes in Q1 2011 we are unlikely to ever eradicate that backlog.