Sir – Before steaming ahead irrevocably with developing our landscape to solve our ‘housing crisis’, we must stand back.

The UK houses one per cent of the world’s population, on only 0.05 per cent of the land, so we are 20 times more densely populated than the rest of the globe.

From 27 countries, an eighth of the EU’s population live here, at a density 2½ times greater than the average for the remaining members.

Our population is similar to France, despite the difference in land mass. The UK’s population density is eight times that of the USA and surprisingly twice that of China. Our population would soon stabilise, if immigration were reduced to a sensible level, as pledged by the Government. High population growth has been a political choice, which recent reports suggest has hindered our economy, despite common misconceptions otherwise.

Increased immigration was justified to maintain our working population — yet, we have unemployment and we are raising the pensionable age. If controls prove effective, eventually our population could decline, like in Japan and Germany. We, therefore, shouldn’t panic and build houses we might not need in future. The current short-term housing shortage can be solved creatively. One million homes are empty. Brown-field, derelict sites countrywide could be developed for betterment, with appropriate infrastructure. Investing in infrastructure, with long-term benefits, is good for the economy. If growth continues unchecked, our population and developed land area could double within a century, yet we already have a serious flooding problem.

As our agricultural footprint dwindles, we become less self-sufficient and more reliant on imported food. Imports outweigh exports, so our books don’t balance.

We must, therefore, focus on increasing food production and manufacturing if we want a sustainable economy. For that, we need land. It’s a valuable resource, which we must not squander.

Justine Garbutt, Alvescot