A plan to build thousands of homes in the South East has serious faults, a committee of MPs has warned.

The £20 billion plan unveiled by the deputy prime minister to build 200,000 homes around Ashford, Milton Keynes, the Thames Gateway and Cambridge corridor is "unsustainable", the Commons committee on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister said.

Forum Response: Countryside Alliance

Richard Burge, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, told ePolitix.com: "The Alliance agrees completely that John Prescott's housing plan was 'ill thought out and potentially damaging'.

"The Commons committee reiterates what we have said in the past - the government must do far more to reduce the North-South divide, both economically and socially. Massive investment and development in the South East, with little balancing investment in other areas of the country, can only increase this divide.

"The Alliance, like the deputy prime minister, wants to see 'sustainable communities' in rural areas where people live and work. This will not be achieved by ploughing billions into dormitory towns. What we don't need is to pour money into increased development in the already overcrowded and over-developed South East".

Forum Response: British Property Federation

Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, told ePolitix.com: "The BPF welcomes the commitment of the government and the select committee to promoting sustainable development.

"The committee's report comments on the importance of creating sustainable communities alongside new housing development. The BPF agrees that it is not just house-building but whole communities which need enterprise and infrastructure. The development industry recognises the importance of this, which is why we are keen to see a holistic approach with adequate public sector funding of infrastructure. However the industry can only provide so much by way of section 106 agreements.

"The committee urges the government to increase local authority powers on affordable housing to require contributions from developers and warns that the potential contributions from developers should not be overestimated.

"Unreasonable targets are not the way to solve the issue of affordable housing. We need a sensible approach which recognises commercial realities and provides incentives for the private sector to meet the need for affordable housing.

"The BPF supports the development of brownfield sites but government must facilitate complex assembly and decontamination and reduce the disincentives to develop this type of land."

Forum Response: Construction Products Association

Allan Wilen, economics director at the Construction Products Association, told ePolitix.com: "There can be no question that there is a chronic shortage of new housing provision in the South East and that something must be done to address it. The Communities Plan is welcome because it recognises that new housing provision is failing to keep up with the rise in household numbers and provides a long-term strategy to reverse that trend.

"The ODPM committee's report however does identify some very real potential difficulties. New 'sustainable communities' must be serviced by trains, roads, hospitals, schools etc. It is crucial that there is inter-departmental coordination to ensure the provision of this infrastructure and that other departments budget ahead to ensure sufficient funding.

"We would also support the committee's recommendation that the Cabinet executive committee on the Thames Gateway should cover all of the growth areas and secure commitments from all of the departments for the funding of infrastructure."