Forty towns and cities in southern England must double in size to deal with the housing crisis, according to Lord Adonis.
The chairman of a new National Infrastructure Commission called on local authorities in areas where there is a shortage of housing to take a more active role by becoming developers and place makers.
The former Labour peer also said that central government should take up the systematic planning of new transport infrastructure to support new housing.
As part of his call for an increase in the country’s housing stock, Lord Adonis also urged local authorities to use more public land for housing.
Guildford, Norwich and Reading were three examples highlighted by the new infrastructure tsar as places where more intervention in development is required.