Housing minister John Healey is to debate the government’s housing policies with both main opposition parties in an eve of election Question Time panel organised by Housebuilder and the HBF. Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps will face Healey on the panel as the two of them debate the fundamentally different views of the respective parties towards new homes provision in the UK. In addition the Liberal Democrats will field a senior politician on the panel with housing spokesperson Sarah Teather invited. To complete the line up, Professor Christine Whitehead of the London School of Economics will join the debate which will be chaired by HBF executive chairman Stewart Baseley. “There are those that say Labour and Tory policies are too similar nowadays so politics is dull,” said Housebuilder editor Ben Roskrow. <br> <br> “But that cannot be said of housing policies. Healey claims success for the top down interventionist approach where housing numbers are decided by government and help is given through Kickstart and HomeBuy Direct. Shapps is a passionate exponent of ‘localism’ – decisions taken by communities on developments in their area with incentives to the local community for each home built. The event is also a great opportunity …