One person’s cash cow is another person’s affordable housing, community provision, infrastructure, heritage rescue — the list that section 106 money can be spent on is a long one. No planning application means no section 106 — and no architects working on the affordable housing (“Councils fight back over change of use” News February 1).

Terraced Houses

If an office block is redundant the chances are it won’t make good housing because of its deep plan, poor insulation and so on. We’re not talking about Rotterdam lofts here, or bohemian squats in solid old industrial buildings. It will be the sixties dross that owners can’t shift that will be used to house people who can’t afford a choice.

On the other hand, most historic cities have handsome Georgian houses that have long been offices for solicitors, accountants — and architects. Why not build some really good modern offices and turn those back into housing? That would generate work for architects as well as bringing life back into the centres.

Judith Martin
via bdonline

Tackle immigration

Another ill-thought-out crisis management decision by the government (News February 1) instead of addressing the principal and ongoing reason for the housing crisis — mass immigration.

Net immigration over the last 10 years has been over three million and is continuing at over a quarter of a million every year. England is the fourth most densely populated country in the world, except for a few city states. We cannot go on like this.

If this problem is not addressed, and soon, the housing crisis will get worse and worse and no amount of gimmicks like this, or the latest one, bedsits in garage blocks, will resolve it.
As it is, the subject isn’t even mentioned. Politicians and the media are terrified to mention it for fear of being branded racist — which is nonsense.

Peter Phillips
via bdonline

Make planning policy universal

It is tough enough keeping up with planning policy as it is, without every council having different policies (bdonline February 4).

The rules on change of use should be universal. We already have this issue with the community infrastructure levy and now the code for sustainable homes, where different councils have different requirements. Scrap the permitted developers bit and just look at each case on its merits.

We did an application last year for office to resi and we got approval because we were able to prove it had been empty for four years and marketed correctly.

Andy Ramus
via bdonline

Postscript

email letters to buildingdesign@ubm.com including your postal address. We reserve the right to edit all correspondence

Topics