Colliers Responds to Gove’s Plan for Housing

Posted by Colliers on 1st August 2023 -

Colliers' Head of Planning has responded to Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove’s speech yesterday on the long-term plans for housing. 

Responding to the Secretary of State’s speech Anthony Aitken said: “The poetic irony of self-titled ‘Long Term Plan for Housing’ is not lost on any of the planning professionals who are engaged in seeking to deliver much needed new homes within the UK. Gove’s speech is all about setting out the Conservative’s direction on housing for next 12 months and to place the topic into the ‘political battleground’ with Labour at the next general election.

“Seeking to provide new homes located overwhelmingly in our cities and utilising redundant retail or offices will come nowhere near to solving the current housing crisis. It is akin to a sticking plaster seeking to treat a serious injury. Further densifying cities tends to provide flatted accommodation and with brownfield development comes extensive contamination/remediation costs that often results in few affordable homes, this is currently self-evident in large swathes of new ‘tower’ developments being built at present in London, Manchester and so on.

“The language of ‘suburban spawl’ and ‘green belt erosion’ are purely a political play with planning and the new homes our country needs. Some 13 per cent of England is currently urbanised, if we were to develop one per cent more, we would be taking significant strides to alleviating and addressing the housing crisis providing homes/houses people need, in the places they wish to live. 

“Why should people have to seek a new home in one of the largest 20 cities, this won’t come near to addressing the provision of significant affordable homes for our communities. Not everyone seeking a new home, wishes to live in Cambridge!”

Link to article 

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