yang.
Geoff: Experts in Britain are
warning that a generation of
young people may never be able
to own their own homes because
of a grave housing crisis.
Britain has a shortfall of over
4 million homes, the worst
record in Europe.
Pressure is growing to start
building in England's rolling
countryside where, for decades,
construction has been outlawed.
Special correspondent Malcolm
brabant reports, from east
chiltington in southern England.
Malcolm: The bells signal that
the tranquility is under threat
from Britain's housing crisis.
The rustic landscape inherited
by this congregation may soon be
paved over to accommodate a
small Newtown.
Kelly penfold, born and raised
here, has joined the local
resistance movement.
>> Personally, I'd like more
housing because I'd like more
affordable housing, but not at
the expense of concreting over
all of this.
I think there has to be a
compromise somewhere because
once this is gone, that's it.
We can't get it back.
We can't replace it.
We can't get back all of these
trees.
You know, planting a new little
sapling isn't going to replace a
two or 300 year old oak tree.
Malcolm: The farmland slated for
urbanisation is on the edge of a
national park, visited by
millions each year.
The proposed town will comprise
at least 3000 new homes.
>> The idea at the moment is,
that where we're at now here and
where this existing track is,
this would probably form the
high street and the sort of the
center point of tthe new
settlement.
Malcolm: Damon turner's
development company claims to
champion the construction of
attractive self-sustaining
communities, where people's
needs are no more than a fifteen
minute walk away.
>> This is roughly where we've
identified the secondary school
would be located.
But overall, it's a small market
town with food and farming at
its heart.
Malcolm: Detailed plans are not
yet available, but this similar
sized town is an inspiration for
the developers.
It is poundbury, 125 miles to
the west and the pet
architectural project of king
Charles, an advocate of
traditional design.
The land being fought over is
owned by Eaton, one of Britain's
most prestigious boarding
schools, with annual fees of
$54,000.
Eton prides itself on teaching
leadership and numbers twenty
British prime ministers among
its alumni.
>> Eton is a bastion of the
British establishment.
Its critics believe this place
perpetuates the inequalities of
the British class system because
the children of the elite come
here and are taught how to
exercise and maintain power.
The development in this parish
should yield huge profits,
infuriating campaign leader Marc
Munier.
Eton doesn't pay tax because
it's a nonprofit, or charity.
>> If they were really a
charity, you know what they do?
They they'd give it to people,
they'd give it away.
They would rewarded it for
society.
Or even if they had to build on
it, give it to people.
How many homes could you just
give away?
And it wouldn't cost them a
penny because they're a charity
and that's what they're supposed
to do. But they won't do that
because it's not about helping
houses.
It's about making money for the
people that are already
incredibly privileged and
wealthy in our society.
Malcolm: Eton says its
charitable works include
subsidising pupils from poorer
backgrounds and creating new
schools in deprived parts of
Britain.
Eton's director of development
is Justin Nolan.
>> I think all responsible
charities that have ambitions to
do more work need to find
sources of funding from a
variety of different places.
That takes money that goes
beyond the fees that we charge.
Malcolm: The developers hope
this video will help win the
approval of the local planning
authority.
>> I don't think myself or any
of my friends or contemporaries
expect to be able to buy a
property in our lifetimes.
It's pretty impossible to buy on
a regular wage.
Malcolm: Besides being
expensive, much of Britain's
housing stock is old and tired.
Most experts say this
overcrowded island needs to
build a medium sized city every
year for decades to come.
>> We've got to build more
homes, not just to alleviate
inequality and to address social
challenges, but also to get the
economy going as well.
Malcolm: Planning expert Anthony
breach warns that an entire
British generation may be denied
their version of the American
dream of a home with a picket
fence.
>> That route is now really
closed off for pretty much every
young member of British society.
So there's millions of young
people who are denied the
opportunities available to their
parents and who aren't able to
move onto the next stage of life
and enjoy better quality housing
and cheaper housing as they get
older.
Malcolm: The housing crisis is
becoming Britain's most
important domestic issue.
With an election less than
eighteen months away, prime
minister rishi sunak is locking
horns with opposition leader
keir Starmer.
>> So now what we've seen is the
highest number of first time
buyers in 20 years, Mr. Speaker.
That is twice the number that
the labor party ever managed.
>> He must be the only person in
the country who thinks that
enough houses have been built in
the last 13 years.
And whether it's those dreaming
of getting the keys to their
first home or those already with
mortgages, the ambitions of
families across the country have
been crushed by his failing Tory
government.
Malcolm: If elected, labour says
it will lift a longstanding ban
on construction on the
greenbelt, a ring of countryside
around London.
Centre for cities has identified
enough greenbelt sites close to
railway stations where a million
new homes could be built,
including hildenborough, thirty
miles from the capital.
>> We think that's a crucial
starting point where the
infrastructure is lined up.
Environmental benefits already
clear.
The climate benefits are really
obvious.
But releasing land from the
green belt is kind of breaking
that big taboo on building the
greenbelt is really essential if
we want to tackle this.
Malcolm: Kelly penfold runs her
online cake business from a tiny
rented apartment. Home ownership
is beyond her means.
>> It's very difficult if you're
a young person and you're on a
low income to be able to afford
to live where possibly you grew
up.
My only chance of getting my own
home was to go on to the council
social housing list, that took
five years.
Malcolm: Kelly penfold's dog
walk takes her past a small
social housing project, she has
this question.
How many affordable homes,
promised by the developers, will
be in a similar category?
>> We want to come up with a
model that works for local
people here, people who are
really struggling to get onto
the housing ladder or even to be
able to rent because of the 4
million homes that were short of
it in this country.
Malcolm: The future rests with
the local planning authority
which has to decide whether the
region's historic market towns
will share the landscape with a
new neighbour.
>> What we're very committed to
is making sure we have a strong
design code so that this
community actually does fit into
the landscape.
It'll undoubtedly be a change to
the landscape, but we don't
think it will be as destructive
as some people fear.
Malcolm: But first, eton must
overcome the powerful so-called
nimby lobby.
Not in my back yard.
>> Are you a nimby?
>> Absolutely, yeah.
And you should be grateful that
I'm a nimby, because I'm the one
that's protecting which
greenfields for you and your
family.
Once this is all bulldozed over,
it's gone forever.
And we don't want to turn into
L.A., and just a sprawling
metropolis in the southeast of
England.
Malcolm: This is a battle for
the soul of national traditions.
An englishman's home has always
been his castle, in a green and