Published on 12, July, 2020
Clearly the UK needs a lot more housing as the prices are unaffordable for most people. I would build lots of high rise apartments but with an aim of making them a lot more liveable than ones that were built in the past.
I would have them have landscaped gardens and almost zero tolerance for vandalism or urinating in the elevators.
They could have triple glazing installed, solar panels on the roof, something on the roof collecting rainwater to use for water.
I would have them painted a cheerful colour, no gray. Maybe a nice pattern.
The design would be practical but not ugly. Not just a tall box like some of them are. Some attractive features like how Victorian buildings had, little features to "dress up" the building, so to speak.
Realistically I think soon we are going to see lots of new housing estates of identical houses with tiny gardens spiralling out in ugly out of nowhere suburbia.
Not sure about hi rise but in my town there are areas with groups of Council Housing and Housing Association apartments that are say 3 or 4 storeys high which to me look ok and some people who live there say it is a nice place. Some are in ok areas.
Yes we need more social housing and affordable. Keir Starmer says he want to build 1.5 million homes in 5 years and wants Georgian style. I wonder what he means by that. Does he mean exactly old style design or just a similar layout. Maybe it’s a solution of many but not high rise or large estates. He also wants to build new towns. Well we need areas to do it. We also need secure housing for people with a variety of needs including autistic people.
Solving the housing crisis is close to my heart. It is also because of my own bias. I have lived in a flat on a Council Estate which to me blew away all of the stereotypes of Council Estates. It is a fantastic place by the countryside and lots of woods and water. Also a UNESCO Geopark. It is surrounded by affluent areas and Manor House’s. Yet I bought it dead cheap. My last mortgage payment in 2016 was £36 per month. Believe it or not. I bought it because I thought it would help me cope with part time work. I did not know we would go so far into such a housing crisis though. Now I feel guilty I have got it. Secure and affordable housing is so important for people whether on one’s own or for families.
We can't even build enough houses for the poor refugees, and legitimate immigrants, let alone the indegenous people...
We have had major mass house building programmes in the past so what is it that stops it happening now or soon even if just temporary. My view is if it is a serious need then ok to view major house building in a cyclical way. That is even if a decade of building takes place to solve the problem to sort it for a few decades to come.
That is true and bizarre. We intervene in foreign wars like Iraq, Afghanistan, the Houthis in the Middle East now. But we cannot even secure our own border from endless numbers of migrants, which I don't really think benefits anyone much, even the migrants themselves, who must have some very deluded ideas about how good life will be here when they get here in our economic climate and with services stretched so thin.