There has been plenty of chatter of late about the Thatcher legacy. Much of it has been highly partisan and somewhat ill-informed but one aspect struck a chord - housing policy.
I have heard it suggested that the "right to buy" policy was a major success of the Thatcher regime. In that it expanded asset ownership to a much wider tranche of the population then the assertion has some truth. I do find it somewhat galling, still, that as a rate-payer I was essentially subsidising these purchases - but then any public expenditure is made with what is ultimately private wealth captured by the state or other public bodies. What I believe Thatcher failed to do was put in place the mechanisms to ensure that building of social housing, or affordable private housing, continued. This is one reason why we have a new housing crisis upon our hands.
What put these thoughts into my head was the ludicrous suggestion that permitted development rights should be temporarily relaxed to allow extensions of up to 8m depth to be constructed without the need for planning permission. The suggestion is that this will kick start the construction industry - which I doubt - and will provide much needed family space. The latter is just bonkers. All it will do is create bigger houses that are even further from the financial grasp of many potential buyers.
This has all bubbled up in the context of a local discussion about affordable housing development and, in particular, the use of exception sites (allowing building in the Green Belt for local affordable housing only). I am not a fan of green field/Green Belt development but these exception schemes should at least be considered. There are good social cohesion arguments to be considered among others.
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