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Following ongoing lobbying by the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Government has agreed to introduce new housing space standards. Currently the UK builds the smallest new homes in Western Europe and in Yorkshire, which has one of the lowest population densities in the country, they are half the size of new-builds in London. Here RIBA president, Stephen Hodder, tells us why fighting to eradicate shoe-box homes with new minimum space standards has been such an RIBA crusade.

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Housing has risen up the political agenda over the past couple of years with all three political parties making commitments on housing issues, but only now is public opinion finally behind addressing the UK's housing crisis. The problem, as national and local politicians know well, is that a sizeable chunk of the public remains opposed to any further development. Even those who are supportive of building more homes are often suspicious about the quality or suitability of some of the developments being proposed -- particularly older people and those in more rural areas.

In 2010, nearly half the public opposed new houses being built in their area while just over a quarter supported building new homes. By 2013, the situation had been reversed. Support for new homes now stands at just under 50 per cent of the UK public, versus a third who remain opposed. People do think that newly built homes are improving, with 48 per cent of people agreeing that properties built in the past decade were an improvement on those built in previous decades. But we still have a huge mountain to climb.

In 2013 the number of housing starts reached a six-year high. But at just 125,000 homes, we are still way below the 300,000 that the RIBA's Future Homes Commission estimated to be necessary. To achieve that we need to ensure that the future of the housing debate isn't just a focus on the number of new homes but that the quality and design of those homes needs to be at the heart of the discussion.

This means addressing the design of homes and how they relate to the community in which they are built, and ensuring that the design of the homes is appropriate for 21st-century living. New homes in the UK are the smallest in Western Europe. RIBA's research in 2011 found that the average new home in London was nearly 50 per cent larger than new homes in Yorkshire and the North West. The crucial difference is the London Design Guide, which sets a minimum space standard for the capital. A handful of other local authorities have also drawn up a minimum space standard but for most of the country there is no minimum size for homes.

The proposal currently on the table from Government would allow local authorities to incorporate a minimum space standard into their local plans and help ensure that all new homes, regardless of tenure, give people the space that we think is a fundamental right. Opponents of the space standard say it will cost too much to implement and could result in fewer homes being built rather than more. And yet, it is clear that the UK's housing market as currently constituted is often unable to deliver homes that are large enough to meet the needs of buyers. A lot of this is down to the role that land prices play in determining house prices. As a result, it is unlikely that the minimum space standard would have an adverse effect on delivery -- especially with the right transitional arrangements in place. A moderate increase in the size of homes would simply be another factor for landowners to consider when selling to developers.

In the longer term, the certainty the standard will provide will enable more new houses to be built. Almost 40 per cent of people say that their support for new homes depends on the design of those new homes. Minimum space standards can help address concerns about new homes and increase demand for new homes from older people who are often unwilling to contemplate downsizing.

It will now be for local councils, as well as house builders and local communities, to make the case for space standards in their area.