How do we stop the building of the current influx of !!!!!! new housing

ukbondraider

As some of you folks know I am currently looking for a 2nd detached home that is relatively substantial in size.

I currently work in London so am fully use to townhouse and apartment living in the city due to the limited land.

However what get on my nerves is why townhouse and apartment living has spread outwards to the outer counties and other smaller towns and cities simply because it makes more money for the developers. Everytime I see a new development full of tiny townhouses and apartments that are sold for what large detatched houses should be going for it makes me cringe. I dont see why any town that is not a major city e.g London, Manchester etc should have any apartments nor too many townhouses.

The country is already abundant with ugly old townhouses and to ensure that the future of houses follow the same path is such a disappointment. Why dont the councils set a rule where only detatched properties can be built in their area. And why dont we all stop buying these rubbish small new or even old houses fueling this deterioration of UK society.

I know I for one would rather rent out a council house at £50 per week and live life a very rich man rather than to buy an overpriced townhouse or apartment and struggle.

A new 4 bed townhouse in one of the new developments in Dartford is set to cost £375K. Sure £375K is within my budget but £375K for a non detatched in Dartford:mad: ????. Dartford is still miles from London so I would expect a 4/5 bed executive detached to cost that much. It is also not exactly the poshes of places to live. A 4 bed detached in Ashford costs £250K with a nice-ish one fetching around £300K.

I know Ashford is further out but how people can buy the !!!!!! new builds like the ones in Dartord and other towns is beyond me. Its no wonder why so many people in the UK are struggling in life.

How a parent can support a family on £27K (the national average) is remarkable as I cant even support myself as well as I would expect on many many multiples above that.

Looks like I will have to move near to the coast of the country and get use to a 2 hour commute or start applying for council flats and use my bonus investing in buy to lets.

Alan_M_2

I'm 30 minutes around the M25 from Dartford (Close to J6), you think £375K is alot for a 4 Bedroom house? There are only two 4 beds in the villiage I live in under £550K, the rest are all over that by quite some margin, and it isn't that special around here.

movieman

Simple: stop buying them.

So long as people continue to pay insane amounts of money for crap houses, builders will keep building them.

bunking_off

Two words : planning regulations.

With the current build densities that are dictated by planning regulations, builders have little choice but to cram 'em in.

Of course, more houses = more profit...

Doozergirl

What bunking_off said. The government is trying to reduce the amount of land we build on by forcing builders to go high instead of wide.

You'll never find good value for money in a new build

clutton_2

""Why dont the councils set a rule where only detatched properties can be built in their area"

and what/where would first time buyers have to purchase if that were policy ?

A_Nice_Englishman

ukbondraider wrote:

As some of you folks know I am currently looking for a 2nd detached home that is relatively substantial in size.

One of the reasons is in the first line of the original post.

If people didn't want two homes there would be less demand, more room to build and lower densities would be possible / economic. I'm not knocking the OP and he is entitled to spend his money however he wishes but if he was content with just one home perhaps he could afford the one he wants.

PoorDave

ukbondraider wrote:

As some of you folks know I am currently looking for a 2nd detached home that is relatively substantial in size.

I currently work in London so am fully use to townhouse and apartment living in the city due to the limited land.

However what get on my nerves is why townhouse and apartment living has spread outwards to the outer counties and other smaller towns and cities simply because it makes more money for the developers. Everytime I see a new development full of tiny townhouses and apartments that are sold for what large detatched houses should be going for it makes me cringe.

No, they're being sold for what they should go for - what people are willing to pay for them! You don't make the rules - the market does.

If you were a developer, why wouldn't you build as many 4 bed, 3 storey house as you could cram in on the land you'd bought? There's no downside for the developer, unfortunately.

seven-day-weekend

Another fact to take into consideeration is that the pattern of families has changed. There are now a lot more single people around than there used to be (Caused by marital split-up as well as people who have always been single). So these people have to be catered for. Single people are already limited in what sort of house they live in (virtually impossible to get a council flat), and they won't want a four-bedroom house.

Anyway, why do we want to take up yet more land with detached houses? We haven't the room any more.

PoorDave

seven-day-weekend wrote:

Another fact to take into consideeration is that the pattern of families has changed. There are now a lot more single people around than there used to be (Caused by marital split-up as well as people who have always been single). So these people have to be catered for. Single people are already limited in what sort of house they live in (virtually impossible to get a council flat), and they won't want a four-bedroom house.

Anyway, why do we want to take up yet more land with detached houses? We haven't the room any more.

Is the single people bit really true though? Have we seen any actual evidence?

I take your point on marital splits, but these people don't all sit in a corner staring at the wall wondering where it all went wrong! (some do) Some do become couples again with new partners.

Andy_L

PoorDave wrote:

Is the single people bit really true though? Have we seen any actual evidence?
.

It would appear to be true

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=1162&Pos=3&ColRank=2&Rank=224

"In 2004 there were 7.0 million people living alone in Great Britain, nearly four times as many as in 1961."