Could housing crisis be solved by car parks?

THE rise of the driverless car could lead to city centre car parks being turned into houses, the Government has said.

Transport minister Jesse Norman said the use of self-driving vehicles and shared travel could allow most high street parking spaces to be removed.

This is because automated cars would be able to drive off to car parks outside city centres once they have dropped their owners off at work or the shops.

This would free up space for potentially hundreds of thousands of new homes in urban areas – solving the housing crisis.

The idea is contained in a consultation document on the ‘future of mobility’.

It paints a picture of a futuristic world with ‘ aerial passenger vehicles’ appearing in urban areas.

Ministers have already said they expect to see fully self-driving cars on UK roads by 2021.

The document said: ‘ The potential increased use of self- driving vehicles and shared travel could also allow the majority of parking spaces to be removed in city centres, opening areas up for redevelopment and potentially hundreds of thousands of new urban homes.’

Shared travel – such as car pools – would obviously mean fewer vehicles need to be parked.

And as well as being capable of going elsewhere to be parked, driverless cars also require less parking space because they can pack more tightly together.

This is because there is no need in the car park for people to be able to gain entry via a door.

The cars can also signal to other vehicles to move out of the way when they need to get out of the car park.

Mr Norman confirmed £12.1million of funding for six projects working on simulation and modelling to aid the development of ‘connected and autonomous vehicles’.

He said: ‘This call for evidence marks just one stage in our push to make the most of these inviting opportunities.’