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Still need to read #PlanningForTheFuture in full but at first glance it looks good. Cue an onslaught of people decrying the fact we might start building stuff.
Sure lots of approved planning applications don’t get built, but this ignores the many developments that people don’t even bother putting applications in for.
Also love how everyone claims that slums will get built everywhere. People will naturally buy the nicest home they can for what they can afford (aka maximising the value they get). Developers have an incentive to build houses people want to buy.
And even if smaller, more economical homes are built and people still buy them, it’s a prime example that we clearly don’t have enough homes. The people buying those homes likely wouldn’t have one at all if it wasn’t built.
The UK housing shortage is so acute that the quantity being built is by far the most critical thing right now. Yes, safety & minimum QoL standards should exist/be enforced but we can’t expect every new home to have multiple reception rooms, 10ft ceilings, and space for 3 cars.
If anything, these reforms are likely to lead to new developments being much denser, which is of course a good thing. Endless suburban cul-de-sacs need to die.
Should also add that I’m a big fan of design codes. When it comes to something you live in or near, and see everyday, form is just as important as function.
