Review: Trapped Behind the Wheel: how England’s new builds lock us into car dependency

Is dependency on a car a matter of necessity due to the locations of new-home building in the UK? The authors of a report on car dependency for the New Economics Foundation have created a Car Dependency Index. This shows a steady climb in car dependency from new-build homes constructed since 2009. These homes often have limited access to public transport and Active Travel routes. There is a developing body of research on car dependence to which this report makes a useful contribution.

The carbon costs of new builds: more than meets the eye?

When new buildings are planned, it is often assumed that the complete carbon implications of new builds are acceptable, compared to making better use of existing empty buildings. As Barnaby Calder has pointed out in Architecture: from prehistory to climate emergency, there are very long timescales for climate ‘payback’ of new buildings in terms of actual emissions saved. This is because it is not just about better standards. It is also about taking into account the greenhouse gas emissions of construction materials, transport to building sites – or, indeed, construction workers’ vehicles.

Green belt vs Grey belt: rethinking land use for sustainability

The report suggests building on Green Belt, or the government-alleged ‘Grey Belt’ of neglected Green Belt areas, can be achieved by ensuring adequate standards of sustainable transport. But this rests upon important and seemingly elusive factors such as community facilities being within walking or cycling distance, good access routes for both, and good bus services. So, if we are acquiring land for housing, we should instead acquire empty houses and buildings nearer to existing facilities, bus routes and Active Travel networks. There is also no mention of building above the surface level of car parks.

Housing targets without reuse: a missed opportunity?

The government’s targets for building new homes are addressed in the report. But there are no targets for the reuse of existing empty houses or buildings, or for maximising use of brownfield sites. And not enough practical consideration is given to climate or the environment in planning and development .

The limited, and ageing, construction labour force is not mentioned as a key factor in sustainable refurbishments and new build. Presumably, construction labour will still be needed to build commercial buildings, renovate and replace hospitals and schools, and for minor infrastructure initiatives and repairs at local level? The Government explicitly refuses to facilitate easier access to the UK for migrant construction workers, despite its housing targets. This appears, at present, to be a plan to fail.

Car dependency and the cost of living

There is a car element to the cost of living crisis. The average car cost per year in 2024 was £3834. This is 19% up from 2020. Cars may not get costly repairs they need; a barrier to the uptake of EVs in England might be the lack of available household cash. Certainly, if bus fares are kept low, this is a real help to people. However, people close to the official poverty line, particularly in rural areas, currently spend a significant proportion of their income on the total costs of a car. For this group, car costs can account for up to 24% of household income.

Transport inequalities and regional disparities

In the poorest neighbourhoods, there are about 40% of households without a car, and northern areas missed out on £51bn in terms of per capita transport spending compared to London, in the period 2014-15 to 2019-20 alone. However, there is no mention of the value of the congestion charge in London, which might mitigate part of this difference?

Land transport accounts for the majority of carbon emissions in the UK. The report notes that achieving net zero will require a reduction in motor traffic of around 20%. As about 52% of vehicles that produce carbon emissions are cars or taxis, the number of short car journeys – such as the school run – could be targeted for reduction. About 40% of car journeys are shorter than two miles; around two thirds are under five miles. It is clear that the location of new homes is critical to avoid making this worse. Implementing statutory rights to remote working and flexitime could also help people choose to cut their car journeys.

Access to healthcare depends on where people live. The report found that the average travel time to the nearest hospital is 62 minutes for people in new rural developments, compared to 28 minutes within urban settlements. Journeys to supermarkets and secondary schools were similarly long.

Reducing car dependency: policy options and planning solutions

The government should not ignore car dependency in its planning for new towns. This has been achieved in places such as Milton Keynes, and similar forms of expansion in places such as Bedford, Northampton and Leicester. This is related in part to land value: this encourages the use of greenfield sites for development, disregarding the many other potential uses. The convenience of greenfield development sites ignores the opportunity for sustainable regeneration of existing settlements, and of minimising the need for vehicles. The possibility of land value taxation incorporating zoning to discourage greenfield development, and the replacement of council tax and business rates with a progressive local taxation, is important to consider, given the repeated waves of cuts that local government has experienced since the 1970s.

While the report addresses housing targets, it does not address the way in which private landlords are driving up prices and inflating the ‘demand’ for housing. Does a country with a huge supply of existing market housing need such targets when many households can afford only council housing?

It is good to see that the report recognises that car-parking policies may contribute to car dependence. Reducing parking within urban settlements offers more space for bus lanes and cycle paths to help reduce the burden of school-run and commuter traffic.

The report emphasises regional planning and the possibility of making housing-target decisions at that level. However, without elected regional assemblies, such decision-making might seem illegitimate for an electorate already disenchanted with mainstream politics. Furthermore, building regional institutions could be seen as one tier too many. If county councils in England were abolished in favour of unitary councils, whose boundaries are strongly based on public opinion rather than population numbers, stronger local authorities might offset such concerns.

This report highlights the issues of car dependency, housing and sustainability. It stresses the need to tackle the root causes, such as planning policies that put new builds, poor public transport, and the neglect of existing housing stock before other considerations. Bold steps such as climate-friendly planning and fairer funding for transport are essential. Policy-makers need to see that cutting car dependency is key to reducing emissions and improving quality of life. Its findings are useful, but reforms are needed to make them work.