It seems that in most parts of the country new homes are being built. Drive or walk around and you cannot help but notice that there are developments, almost on every corner.
But is it good news or bad? Well, the latest annual British Social Attitudes survey from the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), reveals that most people support new homes being built in their area.
Indeed, support for homes being built increased between 2010 and 2014 and has remained stable ever since. But it also shows that attitudes have become more polarised, depending on age.
The other positive is that a higher proportion of people think that new build homes are well designed and well-built and, unsurprisingly, those who feel favourably towards the design and build of new build homes are more likely to support more homes being built in their local area.
As in previous years, given a free choice, the vast majority of people would choose to buy accommodation rather than rent. Amongst renters, private renters are more likely to aspire to buy than social renters.
This comes at a time of unprecedented new home building, and despite critics saying that not enough is being down, it has been announced that new development corporations are being given funding to kick-start work towards creating new towns and communities in England on a scale not seen since Milton Keynes and Canary Wharf were built.
The Government is to provide £10 million in seed funding for councils to develop initial proposals for up to 10 new communities which will be locally led. Councils will compete by submitting transformational proposals to win a share of the new funding.
The first project has already been confirmed and will be a new Development Corporation at Toton, which will be led by the former chairman of Burberry, Sir John Peace, located close to the M1 and East Midlands Airport.
New towns and developments will be planned in close and detailed consultation with local areas and councils will be expected to demonstrate they want to build not just houses, but new infrastructure and vibrant communities where people want to live.
The last time new towns were built on this scale was in the 1980s and development corporations led to over 20 new towns, including Milton Keynes and Telford, as well as delivering transformational urban regeneration projects such as Canary Wharf.
In recent years, Ebbsfleet Development Corporation has been driving the delivery of new homes in Kent in the first garden city of the 21st century. Collectively, all the new towns are now home to over 2.5 million people.
But it I not just about the new. The Secretary of State for Housing has launched what is described as England’s most ambitious heritage preservation campaign for 40 years.
Under the plans from Robert Jenrick local people will be empowered to nominate heritage buildings which are important to them and reflect their local area and identity, supported by a team of heritage experts. So, it is fitting that we are thinking about old and new buildings.
Ray Clancy
Editor Property Wire
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