Let’s build homes we can cherish – not more grim estates

WE all know that there are not enough houses in this country for all the young families who long to own the roof over their heads. As Michael Gove, the Minister for Levelling Up, points out in The Mail on Sunday today, far too many young people must live with their parents when they really want to spread their wings, or rent cramped flats because of a grave shortage of affordable properties.

The easy solution to this is for the Government to let rip by tearing up planning laws and zoning restrictions, and giving developers a free hand to build what they like, where they like. But future generations will not thank us if we do this. Quantity is not enough.

If we want to have a civilised society, people must live in proper communities, not in featureless estates that have no heart. As Mr Gove rightly says: ‘Too many new homes have been ugly, shoddily constructed and of poor quality. Identikit creations plonked down without regard to the shape and character of existing communities. Many new developments have not been accompanied by the investment in infrastructure required alongside.’

He proposes to take on big developers who build soullessly and leave out the facilities – shops, meeting places, parks, GP surgeries, post offices, playgrounds – that people love or need. And he says his watchwords will be ‘Beauty, Infrastructure, Democratic control, Environmental enhancement and Neighbourhood protection’.

We very much hope he can succeed. Cynical profiteers can all too easily use the demand for houses as an excuse to concrete over the country or run up shoddy flats whose main aim is to make profits. House-building may be the Government’s longest-lasting legacy. Let us make sure that it is a legacy we can be proud of, and that future generations will enjoy rather than endure.