Turning shops into homes makes sense

When standing outside the bank in Ashford High Street last week, (on essential errands during lockdown) I was struck by how the upstairs of so many buildings and shop fronts looked unoccupied and dilapidated.

What a sad sight, when the quality of those properties was of both architectural interest and inviting to restore, live in.

In times when the UK’s population is set to decline, given the exodus of many EU citizens (already around 1.5 million, I understand) and birth-rate decreases, I consider that now is the time to make the most of this promising housing stock.

Populations are shifting, something I think to celebrate, as we can now go for quality of living, dwellings, taking care of the planet’s resources in the process.

Having lived for many years in Barcelona, I know at first-hand how the European town/city model works, they are residential throughout - one pops down to the bakers, grocers, newsagents... right in the heart of the city or town.

It strikes me as a win-win opportunity for Ashford to convert those empty, neglected upstairs of shop-fronts (or even the shops themselves, when vacant) into residential dwellings. There’s currently so much pressure on Ashford, as other towns, to ‘build, build, build’, with ever more housing estates springing up in what should, in my view, be countryside, farmland, rewilded landscapes even.

The result would be a revitalised town, lived in, taken care of by its own residents, with necessary shops and services on hand and in use. Let’s return to being The Garden of England!

Annie Michie