Do we really want more high-rise living in the city centre?

SALE prices of high rise flats in central London have plummeted by 22% since 2014, it appears. And prices could fall further.

Great news for first-time buyers! Bad news for developers and those seeking a quick return by “flipping” a property.

It all makes you wonder – do we really want more high-rise living in Bristol city centre?

There’s the fire risk. Remember Grenfell? Horrific. Tower blocks are harder to get out of, they are not safe enough.

And post-pandemic, do you really want to live in a high-rise flat with no garden? What if there’s another lockdown? We could see another pandemic in the next 20 years. It could well happen.

Another novel virus could emerge from nowhere and go round the world in days.

Who wants to live in lockdown in a high-rise flat?

They also destroy the Bristol skyline. Far from it being a failure to develop, as one architect claimed a few years ago, it was brilliant foresight.

It also meant that the Bristol skyline, unique among major British cities, was not disfigured by highrise tower blocks. Until one came along on Castle Green. Bad development!

Increasingly, people will prefer to commute to the office and work two or three days per week from home. So high-rise flats in the city centre have lost their purpose and attraction.

You can get a decent house near a train station, with a garden, and then commute in.

We should therefore save our precious skyline and not disfigure it with tower blocks. This “quality of life” and “quality of the built environment” are now even more crucial in attracting investment and skilled workers.

Bristol doesn’t need more central high-rise tower blocks. We need better train links instead. Let’s hope our mayors are on the case! Jon Elbert Bristol