Britain’s new housebuilding projects must be handled with care
SIR – Sajid Javid, the Communities Secretary, says that communities should be given a strong voice in areas where new homes are to be built (report, July 5).
He is right. The lack of communication between the key players – landowners, councils, residents and developers – is the biggest blockage to development. The conversation too often becomes bureaucratic and process-driven.
However, Mr Javid is wrong to vilify “Nimbys”. He will get nowhere by demonising those who care enough to get involved. He should address their concerns, which mostly surround lack of infrastructure and poor design.
There are no cheap ways to build new communities. Costs for standalone settlements are too high. Intelligent thought is needed about how they can be linked to existing ones. Jobs and infrastructure need to be considered, and a proper identity created for each community.
William Sunnucks
Coggeshall, Essex
SIR – Soaring house prices and endless regulations have put housing in nice areas beyond all but the wealthiest.
For many younger people, living in the area where they were brought up is a pipe dream. Yet towns and villages need to be diverse.
While housing is such a precious commodity, prices will continue to soar. Increasing supply will ease prices, enabling younger generations to enjoy the same security and quality of life as their parents.
Kate Graeme-cook
Launceston, Dorset
SIR – Older people whose children have left home are being urged to move into smaller dwellings to free up larger houses for younger people.
What smaller dwellings? How often do builders include bungalows in their developments? When did we last see attractive terraces of single-storey homes being built?
Developers who build more than a certain number of homes are supposed to include social housing. Perhaps they should have to include suitable dwellings for the elderly too.
Maggie Hughes
Gnosall, Staffordshire
SIR – Michael Tyce (Letters, July 6) is wrong. We need to reduce, not increase, the density of our housing.
In 2014, a study by the University of Cambridge found that Britain has the smallest homes by floor space area of any European country. The average British new-build is half the size of the average one in Denmark.
The study added that overcrowding can lead to depression, the breakdown of relationships and physical problems such as asthma. People deserve homes they can thrive in, not boxes.
We need to make better use of the housing stock we have. Unaffordable stamp duty means people can’t move, resulting in gross overdevelopment of smaller properties and the underoccupation of large ones where people can’t downsize.
David Bartholomew
Henley-on-thames, Oxfordshire