Letter: We Need the Right Kind of Homes

Published on: 14 Oct, 2024
Updated on: 14 Oct, 2024

From Ben Paton

In response to: They Keep Building Everywhere

“More houses means more affordable homes …”

The statement is not right in theory – or in practice.

Logically it has as much sense as an equation as “Four legs good, two legs bad.”

It is a statement of political dogma not rational economics. It is equivalent to the Soviet central planners declaring that planned house building will satisfy expected demand. As anyone who has ever looked at Soviet era housing developments in Russia will know, soviet era apartment blocks make UK tower blocks.

When former coiuncillors Mansbridge and Juneja were promoting their Local Plan “trajectory” they argued that the number of people on the waiting list for Council Houses was a measure of the local demand for housing.

Affordable housing is not affordable for those on a waiting to rent a council house at an affordable rent. Doubling the housing target without building any more council houses will do nothing for the people on GBC’s housing waiting list. It will only do something for the profits of the housing lobby that represents the “Big 5” housebuilders who are doubtless providing MPs with free tickets to sporting events.