The Question of “Garden Communities”—Is It A Good Idea?
The debate goes on in the House of Commons, amidst the Trump immigration fiasco and the Brexit troubles, as to whether the government’s intention to respond to the housing crisis in this country is the right one by installing new “garden villages” to accommodate residents. The argument made by the Tories is that it will allow for the creation of 48, 000 new homes. But is this the right way to go forward?
First of all, there must be a guarantee that contractors and sub-contractors are willing to take the building of these new communities seriously and that they will implement all the necessities normally required in permanent housing development schemes. Furthermore, the idea of “special planning freedoms” is manna to landlords eager to make a quick profit with vested interests but anathema to the rest of the community actually occupying the living space. There must therefore be declared government support for the new residents themselves so as to ensure that communities do not fall into the hands of greedy and unscrupulous landlords looking to make a quick buck.
Even more crucially perhaps, the fact that 48, 000 new homes will be built will not be enough to cope with the housing crisis Britons are facing around the country. There are, for example, far too many homes (private and council-owned) that are lacking in the fundamental requirements that make a home a suitable living area: indeed, many Britons all over the country might seem to be living in acceptable accommodation, but recent investigations have shown that far too many existing homes fall below the legal levels of acceptable housing. One wonders what measures the government will take to address those issues, and it seems incredibly naïve to suggest that a few “garden villages” will resolve the national crisis which we are all in and which the government is doing nothing to resolve. Reader, your government is laughing in your face.
The Question of “Garden Communities”—Is It A Good Idea?
Property & Development Magazine
