At this time of year, with the days still getting shorter and Christmas just a week or so away, we value spending time at home with our friends and family. We should all have a place we can call “home”. Living with parents longer than you planned to, renting on an insecure, short-term lease or stuck in cramped, unsatisfactory accommodation can all affect personal relationships, health and general quality of life.
It’s clear that the housing market has failed - failed to deliver homes that people can afford; in the numbers needed and in places that don’t just put more pressure on green spaces, local infrastructure and services. It’s not just a numbers game. The location, design, energy efficiency, build quality, and particularly the tenure of new homes, are all important.
Unfortunately the Government is actively planning to make things worse. It is proposing a completely new way of calculating housing need. One that will undermine the work of local authorities to date, increase development in areas where both land and infrastructure are under intense pressure, and encourage building the wrong type of homes in the wrong places.
In Tonbridge & Malling the proposals would see an increase of over 23% on the housing target included in the draft Local Plan currently going through public consultation - an extra 3,260 homes, on top of the 6,000 already planned for.
The new methodology is based on the assumption that simply increasing the number of houses in an area will reduce prices and increase affordability. But in areas such as this demand is almost limitless. West Kent attracts people moving out of London, taking advantage of high prices in the capital to “trade up”. To date new housing has not been built to meet the needs of local people at “affordable” prices.
The plans are being heavily criticised, from all sides, as unworkable. Conservative controlled Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council said in its response to the consultation: “The Borough Council’s overall view is that the proposals are unrealistic and of little practical use in speeding up or increasing the supply of housing.”
The Green Party is not opposed to new housing but we believe there are many things that can be done before building on green fields and Green Belt. Firstly, the Government must address the UK’s regional imbalance to reduce pressure on the south-east. Perversely, the new method of calculating housing need would see targets reduced in some parts of the north of England.
Brownfield sites must be brought forward and “landbanking” discouraged, possibly through a land value tax. We should make sure new infrastructure is in place before building. We may need to look again at the density of housing developments, particularly in the suburbs, but any increase in density must be accompanied by better design and provision of gardens or communal green space. The law should be reformed to give more protection to those renting in the private sector, as has recently been done in Scotland. By the middle of the century one in four people will be over 65 - housing that would help older people downsize, but still provide good amenities and a sense of community, must be part of the solution.
It’s time houses were seen as places to live, not as ever-appreciating assets. It’s time for fresh, green thinking.
Richard Byatt, Treasurer, Tonbridge & Malling Green Party
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