The Great British Housing Paradox

Written by HTVF board member,  Alan Thompson

We desperately need new homes… but, we don’t want them built anywhere near us!

The new Labour Government has committed to building 1.5 million new homes in the next five years. This target is to be achieved mainly by relaxing the planning system, with particular reference to promoting development within the ‘grey-belt’… that is to say: the parts of the ‘green-belt’ that are not so green and not so pleasant.

The new government is justifiably responding to widespread public support to grasp the nettle of an intractable housing crisis… a crisis that has persisted far too long.

Few would deny their fellow man, woman or child the opportunity of a comfortable, safe and affordable home. Yet sadly, for as long as anybody can remember, volume house-builders have failed to deliver new neighbourhoods that would be wholeheartedly welcomed by the established community. New estates are often ill-conceived, poorly designed or delivered and feel woefully out of place. So it’s not surprising that even the most well-meaning locals are filled with dread at the distant rumble of bulldozers.

But surely, it is not beyond our collective ability to build decent new homes – homes that we so desperately need – but in a way that actually improves our existing settlements and are actively welcomed by the host neighbourhoods?

Of course, it is possible! … It has always been possible!

There are some great examples of how this ‘Great British Housing Paradox’ can be overcome. There are lessons to be learnt from places that have managed change in positive and controlled ways. The new Labour Government promises ‘Golden Rules’ to moderate such change, and we should help it define rules that are idealistic without being unrealistic and popular without being populist.

The Historic Towns & Villages Forum has a long history of thought leadership in helping to manage change for historic towns and villages. We are particularly well-placed to inform constructively the imminent expansion of our well-loved places.

And indeed we are, and always have been, a Forum for debate and discussion. We have also undertaken research studies to inform that debate. We worked with Historic England, ACT, Allies and Morrison and 12 case study historic places to produce the ‘A Better Balance between Heritage and Growth’ report in 2023. A key conclusion was that the method (‘algorithm’) for calculating housing need should incorporate a better appreciation of the historic and natural context of the place. Other agencies have produced comparable and compatible studies to inform housing design and provision.

So, we warmly welcome our friends and partners to join us in this new era of ‘how, not if’ to untangle the ‘Great British Housing Paradox’ and herald a new era of constructive conservation for our historic places.

(Image: A construction site. Photo by Fons Heijnsbroek via Unsplash.)