I’ve been reading coverage of John Prescott’s Sustainable Communities summit in Manchester with interest over the last week. The thing that caught my attention? That a £60,000 house could be aesthetically pleasing as well as functional and - crucially - affordable. If you don’t believe me, look at this article. It’s a two bedroom house over three floors, painted blue and faced in cedar wood.

Of course, this is probably the biggest issue facing us in the south-east at the moment - how can we make housing for public sector workers, low-paid and even medium-paid single people, couples and families affordable? House prices are so high that many people just can’t afford to buy in places like Oxford, leaving many people who’d like to buy stuck in rented housing.

I believe that the answer is to build more houses in and around Oxford - something that the Government is keen to do.

Everyone will be getting a questionnaire through their door from the South East Regional Assembly soon, asking us about the housebuilding and development options we prefer. Our copy arrived this week, and I ticked the box for building 32,000 new homes per year - the highest number available. I hope many other people will do the same.