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Former minister John Penrose says people should be able to add more floors to their homes to deal with the housing shortage, saying not being able to build enough homes in the UK will lead to ‘increased poverty’. I warned you.
Exclusively shared in an essay by the Conservative Bright Blue think tank IA former Northern Ireland minister warned that the country’s housing crisis had “worsened for years” and that major changes were needed to “upend more than 40 years of failure”.
Weston-super-Mare, a former constitutional minister, has called for a major overhaul of planning laws that allow people to add floors to their homes in order to increase supply without compromising green space.
He applauded the so-called “street vote” initiative that forms part of the leveling-up and recovery bill currently passing through Congress.
But he added he feared such initiatives, while a “welcome victory”, would not be “enough” to tackle the growing housing shortage.
The former minister said the problem was “long-standing and deep-rooted” and that the street vote “wouldn’t be big and scary enough to single-handedly overturn more than 40 years of failures”.
He said the country needed “enhanced street voting” and called for a major overhaul of the planning system, adding that “anyone in a particular neighborhood could add an extra floor to their home if they complied.” I named it “build up, not out” to be able to. their local council design code”.
This expansion of planning regulations will be “greener” as it uses existing brownfield sites, and new developments will be more efficient as they will utilize existing infrastructure such as water and electric mains, he said. claimed.
“This means that people who are struggling to own or rent will suddenly realize they had a lot more options than they used to. We will move into a new world where people and buyers have the upper hand,” he added.
His proposal would exclude rural areas and historic buildings, leading to a “townhouse revolution of four- or five-story buildings” that would “double the amount of home space available” in towns and cities. A possible connection, he predicted.
Penrose argued that “housing costs have steadily gotten out of hand over the years,” and that fundamental change was needed.
He continues: It will come their way.”
He added that the housing crisis is “disproportionately hitting poor children” living in rental housing.
“[The housing crisis] It means more households living in cramped and overcrowded homes, where common causes of poverty and poor health, such as dampness and disease transmission, are more common. ”
Mr Penrose went on to argue that a shortage of housing stock “makes it difficult for young people to climb the housing ladder”, which was “a very big and important part of the long-held dream of the Conservative Party”.
The government is under pressure to build more housing after Prime Minister Jeremy Hunt was accused of “ignoring the housing emergency” in his latest budget bill.
Critics argued that the government provided little assistance to individual renters and those facing homelessness.
Some prospective first-time buyers said: I They were disappointed that the budget did not include a new program aimed at making homes more affordable, as the government’s long-running program of assistance with purchases is officially coming to an end.