Instead of a Conservative housing policy that emphasises home ownership and architectural beauty, it will now be done the Labour way. When tower blocks start rising over the Home Counties, I hope that our remaining MPs realise their mistake.
It is designed to tackle a particular problem: the lack of provision for lab space in Cambridge – especially when compared to Silicon Valley – but wrapped in traditional branding.
We should reward developers who seek to design locally distinctive schemes – which boost the economic and social confidence of the places where they’re built.
The Government should empower local community organisations to take ownership of vacant and derelict high street property, so that they can bring them back into whatever use their economies need.
A new paper, and my Private Members’ Bill, would put local communities in control of development in our towns and cities.
Some places might not be able to support a full time shop, pub, or post office, but could support a unit that operates as all three at different times of the day
We can make our village, town, and city centres better places than they were before the crisis: more humane, more beautiful, and more liveable.
Local design codes could be simplified, but based on local tastes and preferences through consultation.
Planners and architects are contemptuous of public opinion. It is naive to assume otherwise.
Brokenshire feels the dismissal of Scruton “could have been handled differently”. But the work to ensure new homes are attractive will continue.
Proper visual preference surveys would help ensure attractive, new buildings – which people actually like.
We should move from a planning permission-led system to a building permit-led system. Design rules should be strict, clear, but limited.
New research out today calculates that granting a piece of land planning permission for new houses makes it dramatically more valuable.
Urban form also matters if the housing supply is to be increased in a way that is popular. A good community relies on the way buildings connect to each other.
We know that we can do more to ensure that when we expand our housing supply, we do so in the right places, with the right infrastructure, with the support of local people and local representatives.