The requirement for non-ground floor windows to be at least 1.1 metres from the floor would stop new homes fitting in with their Edwardian, Georgian, Victorian, or local vernacular predecessors.
The ultimate political problem is that people support housing in principle but not in practice. But these ‘fast tracks for beauty’ would create more homes and better places.
A small community has shown how to intensify existing streets in a way that is sustainable, attractive and popular.
Beautiful, popular, healthy and sustainable new places should be the natural result of working within the system, not the consequence of working against it.
We should be converting more shops. It is not just a question of creating homes. Our town centres desperately need an economic vaccine.
Lockdown has also helped re-forge bonds of neighbourliness, and reminded us of what matters in our homes, streets, neighbourhoods.
It accepts that the beauty and liveability of the new settlements we create matters. Far too few new places achieve this.
We can make our village, town, and city centres better places than they were before the crisis: more humane, more beautiful, and more liveable.
It’s easier, faster and cheaper for restaurants, bars and shops to make use of the pavement.
The co-Chair of the Government’s Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission wraps up our mini-series on housing.
Yesterday’s announcement of Government’s design guidance is a very welcome step in the right direction.
We should move from a planning permission-led system to a building permit-led system. Design rules should be strict, clear, but limited.
The second piece in our mini-series on housing argues that the planning system needs a far greater focus on buildings that people like.
Increasing housing supply is not just about the Green Belt but better aligning what we build with the places people most desire.
The second part of a ConHome series this week on housing and planning in the wake of the Queen’s Speech.