The credit crunch played a role in slowing development, though the national government has tried to resolve that with incentive programs for banks to step up their lending to middle-income home buyers. The government also has issued reams of policies intended to streamline planning.

But local councils are naturally inclined to protect cherished green spaces and maintain the centuries-old flavor of thousands of distinct villages. So while the central government chides the councils as being out of touch — Mr. Cameron has referred to planning officials as the “enemies of enterprise” — the councils counter that to decimate those protections would threaten the lush lands they consider one of England’s greatest assets.

“I am hissingly angry that the government has an idea that the planning system is the problem,” said Valerie Paynter, founder of Save Hove, a group that campaigns for affordable housing in the coastal cities of Brighton and Hove.

Sensible planning, Ms. Paynter said, is what “is keeping this densely populated country sane.”

The stratospheric rise in London home prices has prompted politicians including Mr. Osborne and Mr. Cameron, as well as Mark J. Carney, the central bank governor, to wonder if there might be a housing bubble in the making – and if so, what should be done about it.

Hoping to deflate a potential housing bubble, the Bank of England recently put a cap on lenders, saying that no more than 15 percent of their loan portfolios can consist of mortgages in which borrowers are lent amounts that exceed 4.5 times their income. Mr. Osborne also said he would free up brownfield sites — old industrial and commercial properties — for development.

Despite those policy pronouncements, the obstacles to building new homes remain significant, according to architects, home builders and developers in communities close to London.

In many spots, including the high-demand areas of southeastern England, there are a large number of rules and regulations, including the Code for Sustainable Homes, issued by the central government and adopted by certain local councils for environmentally sustainable homes. This includes measures to increase energy efficiency and to limit water usage.