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?

Oh, and I’m not at all suggesting anyone should be “sent home”. Really - no, absolutely not. I’m a people lover as well as a wildlife lover. But there are lots of empty properties and lots of rarely used second/holiday homes. Let’s look at those first. The rich and powerful don’t want us to talk about these things.

Funnily enough, as you should mention it, Chardonnay, palm oil is actually a very energy efficient oil. It's just the mechanism for growing it - it is the crop of choice for profiteering (Western) companies deforesting South East Asia. Nothing wrong with palm oil per se. Again, comes down to choices.
Oh, and our planet can perfectly well suppory the number of people living on it sustainably. It's just that the top 1% own 50% of the planet's wealth www.cnbc.com/2017/11/14/richest-1-percent-now-own-half-the-worlds-wealth.html that's not healthy now is it

Saw a programme on TV talking about streets and streets up north (Liverpool for one) are full of boarded up houses as everyone has gone south to find work. Loads of houses available but no jobs hence the HS2 rail link so people can work down south but live up north. Also all those empty million pound houses in cities should be turned in to flats

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?

Exactly that!

YABU. A tiny amount of the UK is built on.

We have far too much farm land (sprayed crops, not environmental paradise).

It is WAY MORE IMPORTANT that families have somewhere to live.

@Lockheart you are missing the point entirely. The people exist, they need food and homes already. No we can't sustain our own food source, but nor do we need to, or ever will and haven't for many years. Drink tea, do you?

Im far from ignorant on this subject. Only 12% of the UK is Green Belt so I'm unsure where we 'keep building on greenbelt farm land'. To release land from the Green Belt is a long and arduous process where it must be proven to be the only viable option. Of course, if brownfield alternatives are available and most importantly viable they should be used. However, it is often the case that the remediation or location of brownfield land makes them unsuitable for housing.
A mixture of greenfield/brownfield without going in to the Green Belt would in my opinion be preferable. But in truth I would rather people just had a roof over their head instead of dying in the streets because they are cold.

What has 'moving to reduce the population' got to do with housing the population that already exists, which is what we are discussing here?

Sure, I'll get on with the program. Palm oil good, hedgehogs bad, trees not needed.

Saw a programme on TV talking about streets and streets up north (Liverpool for one) are full of boarded up houses as everyone has gone south to find work

Indeed. Which is why we need to pump some serious investment into northern towns and cities to attract more businesses and jobs.

It is WAY MORE IMPORTANT that families have somewhere to live.

How many families need housing? Are there even some realistic, independent numbers out there?

The thing is, brownfield sites come with a wealth of uncertainty for the person building on them. They cost money to demolish/remediate/prepare before you can even put a bucket in the ground. People can spout about the greenbelt and greedy developers but from a business POV brownfield sites are a minefield. They are a business at the end of the day in an industry that employs hundreds of thousands of workers

I live in a popular SE commuter town and there are loads of empty brownfield sites waiting to be built on that have been boarded up for years.

Yet further out into the Buckinghamshire countryside new housing developments are popping up where fields used to be.

I’m not too sure any government can really guarantee anything when you see it happening like this

The fields aren’t being turned into affordable or social housing either.
It’s all 3+ bed houses that no offspring of the local area can typically afford.

Perhaps if we diidnt keep voting in the nasty party there would be less homelessness?
We need housing though.

People can spout about the greenbelt and greedy developers but from a business POV brownfield sites are a minefield.

That’s true for private developments, but as a pp pointed out, if the government is commissioning and building these homes then they should be able to stipulate where they are built?

YANBU op and I agree that empty properties should be done up first before building more. I live in the countryside by choice because I don’t want to live in an area of back to back houses with no green to be seen, I lived in a city when I was younger and it was really bad for my mental health.

As others have said there needs to be more thinking outside the box instead of just saying ‘oh we will build another squillion houses’. And yes I am aware only a small amount of the uk is actually built on but continue the way we are and there will be nothing left barring the highlands, not a place I want to live

I’m not a Tory, nor a supporter of any party remotely right wing, but look at the growth of our population over the last few years. We are a SMALL country. The south east, just outside London, is massively over populated. We all have boiling frog syndrome.

You’ve got me going now - huge fllocks of starlings, the sound of cuckoos, house martins, swallows, hares, wrens. Come on - when did you last hear or see any of these?

Alright David Attenborough, you've literally just told a lovely nostalgic tale of animal cruelty

@ChardonnaysDistantCousin a quick google says that according to Shelter in 2018 there were 320,000 homeless people including those in temp accommodation, with a yearly increase of 4%, so approx 333,000 people.

Yes, KnowBetteDoBetter - Mia culpa. We were kids who intended no cruelty. We all know what we are doing now.

We need housing though.

I don’t think anyone’s disputing that. But let’s think carefully about where and what we build. Flinging up yet more estates full of rabbit hutch style homes on fields and countryside is not the answer. Corbyn is promising a radical new Britain in his manifesto, so I hope he takes a radical and inspiring approach to the housing crisis as well. From what other posters have said, it sounds like he is planning to utilise brownfield sites wherever possible, which is very good news.

When did you last see a lizard in the UK?

As others have said there needs to be more thinking outside the box instead of just saying ‘oh we will build another squillion houses’.

Exactly.

Hmmm having worked for a local authority with empty housing I'm sceptical. My authority had 5 towns. There was housing in town A. But people didn't want to live in town A, they wanted to live in towns B,CD and E. so town A social housing sat fairly empty - unless it was brand new.Nothing wrong with town A or the housing.Not as "nice"'as the rest but it had decent housing.

Yabvu.

When did you last see a lizard in the UK?

Not sure I ever have. See homeless people sleeping in the streets every day though. I lived in a homeless hostel at 16, and again whilst pregnant. Finally managed to find a landlord to rent to me (for over £1100 a month) then my abusive ex found me.

Whilst the fire brigade fitted extra fire alarms all around my house, and my letterbox was getting boarded up, I was told that five years ago I'd be moved into a council property as a matter of urgency, due to the critical, severe and imminent risk facing myself and my daughter.

But after 9 years of Conservative government, there are none left. I work, I have got a degree, am now studying for another degree. I'm not lazy, or looking for something for nothing. Same as the ex-soldiers sleeping outside on our streets right now.

Honestly, I know which issue I'm most concerned about at present.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804329/Statutory_Homelessness_Statistical_Release_October_to_December__2018.pdf

These are the government figures.

I do suppose though that the truth is probably higher than the official ones but lower that the ones from Shelter, so there is still no need for hundreds of thousands of new houses and flats.