By Ben Amey

Since one of the key commitments in the Labour manifesto was a pledge to build 1.5 million new homes over the course of this parliament, there’s been a real focus on how that will be achieved and where those homes will be built. One of the key considerations in home building is, of course, transport, especially the availability of public transport in areas that may not be previously well served by bus or rail.

The recent National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation set laudable aims for minimum housing density near railway stations. However, to create truly sustainable towns and cities that deliver vision-led transport, density targets must be higher and be integrated with bus or tram routes. Since many Local Transport Plans contain aspirations to deliver Bus Rapid Transit routes in towns and cities, the NPPF should also set housing density targets on high frequency public transport routes.

Minimum housing densities along key bus or tram routes would not only improve the financial viability of these services, but also provide residents with regular and reliable public transport, improving connectivity to employment, education, retail and leisure destinations, as well as reducing social isolation.

Good for people, good for buses

A 2025 National Audit Office (NAO) report into Local Bus Services painted a picture of increasing subsidisation of bus services in the UK, stating that passenger fare revenue has decreased by around 7% since 2019-2020. The report warned that the sector would become financially unsustainable at current service levels without capital improvements such as priority bus lanes or revenue schemes to improve ridership.

Meanwhile, the independent think tank Centre for Cities has recommended that Britain needs to increase housing density in Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and London where there are ‘density gaps’, in line with cities in France and Japan. Rather than following more rigid and fixed railway lines, increasing housing density in existing cities requires the flexibility that bus routes offer. So now is surely the time to encourage minimum density along key bus routes to improve the viability of bus services and protect sustainable development.

A flawed framework

Literature recommends higher density figures to support bus viability, with CPRE recommending 60-100 dwellings per hectare (dph) to ensure viable bus services, while elsewhere a figure of 100-120 dph on transport corridors has been recommend (S. Lehman, 2019). Further research has concluded that with higher population density comes an exponential reduction of car use (Berrill et al, 2024). To achieve densities of 60-100dph, the UK will need to build more apartments, duplexes and townhouses between 3-6 storeys.

The NPPF consultation framework sets density targets below the recommendations of transport research, with a minimum density of 40 dph around all stations and 50 dph around ‘well-connected’ stations, providing connectivity to jobs and services. However, it would be flawed to solely focus density near railway stations to connect people with jobs given that commuting represents just 12% of journeys (National Travel Survey 2024).

Planning policy published under the last Labour Government (1997-2010) set a similar density target of 30-50 dph (PP3, DETR, 2000). Is this government interested in devising ambitious policy for the integration of housing and transport or reusing the policies of the last Labour Government in focusing on land near train stations?

A truly ambitious, vision-led NPPF could set minimum density targets of 60-100 dph on key bus and tram routes to improve bus viability and support public transport. This would do more than support commuters; it would support entire communities, reducing social isolation as well as encouraging more people to swap the car for the bus.

• For more information on urban housing density, read Flat Britain: The Urban Density Gap and How to Close It by Centre for Cities here. 

• Ben Amey is Principal Highway Development Officer at Wokingham Borough Council