A national housing policy expert says kickstarting a new garden towns and villages building programme could give Norfolk a sustainable solution to its housing problems.
Lord Matthew Taylor said a return to the principal of avoiding suburban extensions and instead creating new settlements with appropriate facilities would protect the historical communities which made the county desirable.
In January the government announced plans to build 14 new garden villages, including one in Essex, following a review of the original 1940s garden cities model by Lord Taylor.
Speaking at the How Should Norfolk Grow? housing conference at Norwich Research Park, he said: 'In the modern world people only move around eight miles from their home, so smaller communities to meet local need makes more sense and is likely to be more popular.
'There is a desperate need, but as long as the developments we are offered are densely-packed estates on the edge of historic communities they will be resisted.
'If we stop ruining historic towns and villages with new housing estates and instead create vibrant, attractive new villages with the facilities that people need, that is how we will overcome the housing shortage.'
David Ames, head of heritage and strategic planning at the original garden city, Letchworth, said investing money back into the community was key to sustainability.
On average the community benefit society which manages Letchworth reinvests £4m-5m a year in the town, mostly raised through commercial rents to its 780 businesses.
'We think the core value of having a sustainable local economy to support the community remains relevant,' said Mr Ames.
Former Lib Dem MP Lord Taylor said a combination of high birth rates and longer life expectancies were fuelling greater housing demand, but that, on average, the UK had been under-building by around 100,000 homes a year.
He said first-time buyers were bearing the brunt as demand increased house prices, with 700,000 more 20 to 40-year-olds living with their parents than a decade ago.
'Whatever people's income, getting a deposit together is increasingly difficult,' he said.
'A lot of people want to live in Norfolk and the population is one of the fastest-growing in the country but it is also very poor. People move into the county from London and are able to buy a house for what they see as not very much money, but for a local person it is quite a lot of money.'
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