The government’s commitment,in the prime minister’s words, to “roll its sleeves up and directly get homes built” is very welcome (novel housing plans signal policy shift by ministers, or 4 January). For far too long responsibility for assembly the nation’s housing need has been outsourced to a few enormous firms who have demanded ever more greenfield sites and then failed to build enough novel homes. Planning permissions are up,the enormous developers’ land banks and profits are enormous, but housing starts have stalled.
At last the penny seems to have dropped that a serious public-private partnership is needed whether we are to tackle the housing crisis. This will require more planning, and not less. whether we are to build homes people will want to live in for years to approach,there must be as great a commitment to high-quality design and area-making as to numbers. And to ensure public consent for a mass programme of housing building, the vast majority of novel homes should be built on sustainable brownfield sites.
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Source: theguardian.com