Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell has defended comments that have been interpreted as support for the building of cramped, "rabbit-hutch" houses in an attempt to get young people on the property ladder.

Speaking at the Conservative Party conference, Mr Barwell said he wanted private developers to "innovate" in a bid to solve the housing crisis, citing the example of a London developer building homes that did not meet minimum space requirements and offering them at below market price.

Mr Barwell, who became housing minister in July, told the fringe event in Birmingham that although "given the choice" most people wanted a big home, many younger buyers would prefer the chance to own a smaller property rather than be priced out.

According to the Independent, he added: "I don’t know if anyone’s seen any of the schemes that Pocket [Living] have done where they’ve basically done a deal with the GLA [Greater London Authority] to get some flexibility on space standards. As a result they can offer a product well below market price."

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The comments prompted a backlash from a number of commentators, while Croydon North Labour MP Steve Reed took to Twitter to accuse Mr Barwell of ushering in the "slums of the future".

The UK currently holds the ignoble accolade of building the smallest homes in Europe: an average one-bedroom flat is 500sq ft, about the size of a tube carriage.

One-bedroom flats sold by Pocket Living, the developer cited by Mr Barwell in his speech, are 100sq ft smaller and marketed at between £250,000 and £300,000.

Speaking to the Croydon Guardian on his way home from the conference, Mr Barwell criticised "the very selective reports of what was said at that meeting," and denied he was planning an attack on minimum space regulations.

He added: "It shows the current political contrast in this country, the reaction on Twitter where people were telling me I wanted to build rabbit hutch homes. But when I gave a talk at Nottingham University, students said they were really interested.

"The thing is that people are interested in this - the homes are getting snapped up."

Mr Barwell insisted the Government was committed to building "more homes of every single kind," including social and affordable housing, a policy that would be fleshed out in a Conservative white paper on housing being published later this year.

He added: "The key way to get more people on the housing ladder is to build more homes. But it's going to take a little while to get where we need to be."

The MP found an unlikely ally in the form of Croydon Labour councillor Alison Butler, cabinet member for housing, who revealed Pocket Living had previously approached the council about developing schemes in the borough.

She said: "I really think we should be standing up for space standards, although I wouldn't dismiss any innovation coming forward.

"Pocket have looked at doing some schemes in Croydon and we have said we're happy to listen and see what they are offering."

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