Two-thirds of people in the UK believe that the homebuilding industry is not focused enough on supporting community infrastructures, a new report shows.
A white paper from Eurocell reveals that 66% feel that too much emphasis is placed on the construction of homes, rather than the development of communities, while seven in 10 feel not enough consideration is afforded to the provision of educational, health and sports facilities within communities.
The Eurocell report, which surveyed 1,000 people, with an equal split between homeowners, private renters and social housing occupants, has questioned planners and developers for focusing solely on building homes quickly, without consideration for the infrastructure needed to support them.
The government has recently come under pressure for falling behind on its target of building 200,000 starter homes since 2014, while its aim to build 300,000 new homes annually has been called into question after it was revealed in October that the number of new build homes under construction in the UK has fallen to the slowest quarterly rate for three years.
Eurocell said of its report: “It is estimated that, to address this and ensure that the housing stock deficit is erased, the UK needs to build 340,000 new homes every year until 2031. This is putting the residential construction sector under increasing pressure to not only meet, but exceed, the Government’s current pledge to build 300,000 new homes annually.”
Planning Decisions
An additional 55% of respondents said they felt that speedily building a high volume of homes negatively impact community spirit, while 44% reported that there was a failure to extend existing services such as doctors’ surgeries to account for new residents.
The top factor identified by 37% of respondents for helping to improve the development of communities was involving local residents to input on planning decisions, while 36% called for greater collaboration between planners and service providers.
Earlier this month, a custom build housing scheme was announced that aimed to enable architects and homebuyers to work together to create better homes, which its project team believes “has the potential to be an exemplary approach to a new way of development”.
Meanwhile, Graven Hill is one of the influential sites transforming the self build movement through the creation of self build communities, which feature primary schools, community centres, shops and restaurants.