Are we building too many flats? Developers think so. Whereas in 2000 only 21% of new homes were apartments, now the proportion has risen to 46%. But the Buy to Let bubble has burst, particularly since the government backtracked on SIPPS. The homebuying market has stalled. And last year the price of new homes fell by nearly 5%, a drop developers blame on the over-supply of flats. According to Alastair Leitch of Bellway Homes, "The government has to recognise people want to live in three- or four-bedroom detached or semi-detached houses with a bit of garden."
Actually, surveys reveal that what people really want to live in is a bungalow.
It may not be a design icon, but the bungalow offers the ease of single-floor living combined with the benefits of a detached house - no lease, no bothersome upstairs neighbours and a nice big garden. However, it's also the ultimate in low-density building and, with the UK's population set to rise by 7 million by 2031, we won't be pandering to this consumer preference unless we fancy kissing the Green Belt goodbye.
The reality is, we must build to meet needs, not wants. And the pressing need is for more affordable homes. So there probably is an oversupply of a certain sort of flat. Luxury apartments starting at £275,000 are dreamland for the first-time buyer on an average salary of £28,000.
Yet here we run up against both the developers' requirement for substantial profits and government policy. It's admirable to seek to avoid ghetto estates by building mixed communities. But the result, for most developments, is that, for every 30 affordable homes built, 70 private-sale homes are created. We keep building
high-density developments, generating ever more high-priced apartments, in order to meet our prime need, affordable homes.
And it gets worse. Because the government wants to get people on the housing ladder, its main focus is shared-ownership. But these flats, to be affordable, are small - studio to two-bedroom. What happens to larger families? If they're on low incomes they're forced into the social rented sector. But here shortages are dire. Yes, there's an urgent need for three- or four-bedroom homes, houses or flats, but for social tenants.
How do we balance developers' profit margins with housing need? It's
a tough question. But it won't be solved by a wholesale return to building
neo-Georgian executive homes.
Jane Barry, Associate Editor
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