A new All-Party Parliamentary Group for Housing and Planning has been formed to address the national housing emergency.

Its secretariat will be the RICS.

It will be chaired by James Cartlidge, Conservative MP for South Suffolk, and consist of MPs from a range of urban and rural constituencies.

There are four vice-chairman, including former housing minister Mark Prisk.

Cartlidge said: “Housing is increasingly becoming one of the most critical policy challenges facing local and national government, and with a Housing Bill pending, it is likely to become more political and controversial.

“In this context, a cross-party Parliamentary group focused objectively on the national policy challenge of housing offers a vehicle for taking the debate forward in a way that is both positive and constructive.

“Having spent my working life in the shared ownership housing sector, I am acutely aware of the challenges facing first-time buyers, particularly in London.

“Equally, as a rural MP, I recognise the need for development to be sustainable. Ultimately, there are a whole raft of complex issues in housing and planning today but I hope that we can make a real contribution to the debate.”

RICS chief executive Sean Tompkins said: “We currently need to build in the region of 245,000 homes every year if we are to address the UK’s housing crisis.

“The solutions we need must be innovative and wide-ranging, but also grounded within a political framework which allows them to be implemented.”