Concerned about Labour’s plans to build more houses

[Dongdingdong]

First of all - I’m in broad support of Labour’s manifesto and am very happy to hear that they want to build hundreds of thousands of council houses if they win the election.

BUT I’m concerned about WHERE these homes will be built. I don’t want to see wildlife destroyed and swathes of green land concreted over and covered in ugly roads and houses.

If Corbyn commits to building these homes on brownfield sites within towns, cities and industrial sites then I will 100% support that and then some.

But they shouldn’t be built at the expense of the environment.

AIBU?

I love the environment and some of our landscapes are amazing in the UK. I'd definitely rather it was majority brownfield sites and I believe that's the plan according to an interview on Sky News earlier.

I'd rather homeless people have a roof over their head than refuse to build on any Greenfield land though. Every time.

What the previous poster said. Our planet is overpopulated sadly, don't see what else there is to do but build more homes.

Existing towns are already overcrowded where I live, they've already done what they can to cram in as many houses as possible, without building the extra infrastructure needed.

As much as I don't want wildlife to suffer, I also want my children to be able to grow up and be able to access affordable housing in an area they want to live in. If I want that for my children, then I assume everyone else will want the same, so the only answer is to build substantially more homes than we currently have. Existing brownfield sites in existing twins and cities won't be enough I don't think. We need whole new towns.

YABU. I care about the environment, but I care about the homeless more. Plus, there are many ways to tackle the environmental crisis. There are not many to tackle the fact there are not enough affordable homes to go around except... to build more.

I'd definitely rather it was majority brownfield sites and I believe that's the plan according to an interview on Sky News earlier.

I must have missed that - if true, great.

Of course there’s a pressing need for housing, but building on green land seems so at odds with people’s increasing awareness and concern over the environment and the climate crisis.

I’m sure I read somewhere that if all empty or derelict homes were brought back into use, that would free up hundreds of thousands of properties across the UK. I would love to see that happen but I can imagine it would be hard to implement.

YABU. Labour are our best chance of environmental protection anyway.

Only about 5.9% of England is actually built on! Additionally 2.5% is specified as green urban space, so their is a lot of land that can still be utilised. As far as I have seen from the manifesto it is going to be utilised via brownfield sites so greenbelt should be ok.

I work in sustainability but people need affordable housing, this is a part of sustainability (look at the UN SDG's). We need to change how we build and make properties more environmentally friendly. I'm not just talking about sticking solar panels on them there needs to be a real change in the national building companies thinking and not just how cheap they can throw up houses to make massive profits from house price inflation.

Some greenbelt really isn’t that special. I’d be OK with some judicious use of greenbelt land if it helped deal with our chronic housing shortage.

The Labour Party support continued free movement and essentially open door immigration. All these people need places to live. We already have a housing shortage so ipso facto we will need more houses, new towns, even new cities to accommodate the numbers coming.

The idea that any party (including the Greens) who support high levels of immigration also want to protect our environment is laughable. You can only have one or the other.

I agree with your sentiment, in an ideal world, but housing has to be a priority right now. Not only that but it's a real opportunity for training and apprenticeships for young people too. There are so many young people leaving school who aren't suited to university and are stuck in dead end jobs and feeling like they'll never be able to move out of their parents home. I want those children to have what we had when I was younger, training for a lifelong trade, in the knowledge that they're effectively building their own future.

You realise immigration doesnt create the world's population right?

Even if immigration was causing a space shortage in the UK (which it absolutely isnt - only circa 6% of England is built on) that would free space up in another area ...

Sorry that was meant for @scatterolight

YABU I'm afraid. I'm shocked to see the amount of homeless people in our town in recent years, something drastic needs to be done.

They can build around here. We live in a village that’s surrounded by space. Not close to any amenities but loads of room.

The Labour Party support continued free movement and essentially open door immigration.

Thats not true. Best to read the manifesto before posting inaccurate information.

Given that the Tories approved the building of thousands on houses on greenfield sites near where we currently live (and are moving from, partly as a result) then I'd welcome his plan to build on in fill and brownfield sites.

There is no needed for our countryside to be ruined with 1/2 million pound so called 'executive homes' with a handful of houses built for shared ownership to enable the Tories to tick the social responsibility box. Near my DBro there are huge new housing estates built on former farming land (which made the farmers millionaires when they sold the land) which were refused permission by the local authorities. The developers went to central government and appealed and were given permission.

Our village is dying on its arse because the older generation cannot stand any development at all. We’re losing bus routes, the shop went a couple of years ago, as did the pub. The school will follow if they aren’t careful, because why would you have a family in a village with nothing to it?

Building 50 houses in our village would be the best thing for it!

@spacepyramid agree with that. Like I say, so long as Corbyn builds on brownfield/infill sites, I'm fully in support.

I wholeheartedly agree that we need more social housing/ homes for key workers and lower income groups.
Our Tory council keeps building on greenfield sites which suddenly became redesignated to brownfield sites and thousands of ‘luxury apartments and homes’ have been built on them, despite no infrastructure to support them.
We don’t need more five bed luxury homes. There are far too many people needed homes at the lower end of the bracket who cannot afford to rent these properties and are having to move away.

Housing is an absolute priority. We need to focus on developing the economy in the north and refurbish the derelict stock there - if people can live near where they work, that's better for the environment. We need to focus on affordability in a major way too.

I know which party is more likely to bring this about, and it isn't the lot currently in power.

Some greenbelt really isn’t that special.

It might be special to the insects that like there.

Remember wildlife populations are being decimated. The only species growing beyond control are humans

*live there not like there. Though they probably like it too.

Greenbelt absolutely is special. It's home to all kinds of species which should not be forcibly removed from the land. Humans do not own this planet. I have a strong moral objection to people buying up these new houses which they don't need - why should a family with 1 or 2 children have a 5 bedroomed home with all en-suites, study, lounge, dining room etc? Why should they be able to buy an expensive home and then commute miles to work causing more damage to the environment?

We have a small house, have never upsized our house and have always had a car which fits the number of people we have without buying a gas guzzling tank that could transport 7 or 8 people even though there are just 4 of us.

People need to live within their environmental means.

Were you not worried about the Tories promise to build more homes or did you realise it was an empty promise like everything they say?

Don't worry judging by the last five years they'll all be built in my town.

But I'm for it, we need more houses.