Before you believe the guff about needing to build more "New Towns"... 20:47 - Nov 29 with 790 views | Edmundo | ...consider this from the goverment briefings: In October 2022, there were 676,304 recorded empty homes in England. This is a 3.6% increase on the previous year’s total. 248,149 were classed as ‘long-term vacant’ properties (vacant for more than six months with some exceptions). Admittedly maybe half of these are either unsuitable for habitation or in places that no one wants to live anymore (although with remote working, this may be easier to remedy/incentivise). But that's still some figure. |  |
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Before you believe the guff about needing to build more "New Towns"... on 13:11 - Nov 30 with 651 views | Cheltenham_Blue | But are they affordable? Because that's the issue. A home you are unable to get a mortgage on is only affordable to those with property folios, and then it just becomes another rent trap. The requirement for new homes in the UK, be they new towns or otherwise is not 'guff' |  |
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Before you believe the guff about needing to build more "New Towns"... on 21:52 - Nov 30 with 567 views | Edmundo |
Before you believe the guff about needing to build more "New Towns"... on 13:11 - Nov 30 by Cheltenham_Blue | But are they affordable? Because that's the issue. A home you are unable to get a mortgage on is only affordable to those with property folios, and then it just becomes another rent trap. The requirement for new homes in the UK, be they new towns or otherwise is not 'guff' |
Absolutely true. But without rezoning Town centres, and effectively forcing developers to build homes that will give them little or no profit, it won't work. What we need as well is a big effort to get more attractive and affordable sheltered/retirement housing. That would free up a lot of family homes that currently have one or two little old souls rattling around in them. |  |
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Before you believe the guff about needing to build more "New Towns"... on 22:53 - Nov 30 with 530 views | jayessess | The underlying issue is that if you leave housebuilding to private developers and make the houses you've already built an investment the purchaser, then the availability and cost of housing is always going to be tangential to social need. So you'll always end up with lots of homes in the wrong places and at the wrong price for the people that need them. |  |
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