Boris Johnson has told the Conservative Party conference that housing is key to solving the ‘national productivity puzzle’.

Focusing on homeownership as the tenure of choice, Johnson said: “This government is helping young people to afford a home.

“It has been a scandal – a rebuke to all we stand for that over the last 20 years the dream of home ownership has receded and yet under this government we are turning the tide.

“We have not only built more homes than at any time in the last 30 years, we are helping young people on to the property ladder with our 95% mortgages and there is no happiness like taking a set of keys and knowing that the place is yours and you can paint the front door any colour you like.

“As it happens I am not allowed to paint my own front door, it has to be black but I certainly don’t have far to go to work and if you don’t have too far to go to work and the commute is not too dreadful and if the job suits your skills and your wifi is fast and reliable then I tell you something else, that housing in the right place at an affordable price will add massively not just to your general joie de vivre but to your productivity.

“And that is how we solve the national productivity puzzle by fixing the broken housing market, by plugging in the gigabit, by putting in decent safe bus routes and all other transport infrastructure and by investing in skills skills skills.

“And that by the way is how we help to cut the cost of living for everyone because housing, energy, transport are now huge parts of our monthly bills and it is by fixing our broken housing market, by sorting out our energy supply – more wind, more nuclear, becoming less dependent on hydrocarbons from abroad, by putting in those transport links… we will hold costs down and save you money.”

Responding to the speech, the CPRE said they welcomed a commitment on building on brownfield land.

Tom Fyans, deputy chief executive of CPRE, the countryside charity, said: “The Prime Minister could not be more explicit – there is no reason to allow the countryside and local green spaces to be opened up to unscrupulous developers building unaffordable homes.

“This is a massively encouraging for MPs, CPRE’s local groups and campaigners up and down the country who have fought tooth and nail to protect their local green spaces and to continue to have a say in the planning system.

“The announcement is a brownfield first approach in all but name. Done right, it could ensure levelling up means building more affordable homes for young people on brownfield land across the country, but particularly in the midlands and north. No longer can greenfield land be seen as land waiting to be developed as its real value is finally being understood.

“We urge the Prime Minister to make sure his vision comes to light in the upcoming Planning Bill. While the government is now making the right noises, there is still a lot of work to do to ensure that our planning system delivers good low carbon design.

“To create the homes and neighbourhoods of the future, Ministers must double down on creating a planning system that produces well connected, low carbon homes on brownfield land that are bursting with green space and nature as a standard.”