Taller, denser building and green belt land needed to solve housing crisis

Taller buildings, increased density, building out and building innovation are all needed to address London’s £1.5m housing shortfall, according to Carter Jonas. Though a combination of the three, the agent estimates that 1.47m homes could be delivered within the next 30 years. According to its Solving London’s Housing Crisis report, 720,000 of these will come from densification, particularly in housing zones, opportunity areas and intensification areas, which cover 15% of the city. The other 820,000 of these, it said, would come from building up, with the proportion of residential supply approved through tall building developments already increasing from 16% to 42% between 2004 and 2015. Building on the green belt could accommodate a further 250,000 homes on just a third of the city’s 15,300 acres of non-green green belt. Finally, it said permitted development rights would offer a further 15,000-25,000 new homes, while modern methods of construction would allow 397,5000 to be built. Tim Shaw, head of development at Carter Jonas, said: “What is clear is that we collectively need to embrace change using a targeted, innovative and effective plan – and the government needs to give us the flexibility to do so. “Aspects will be unpopular – the idea of 2,200 new towers won’t be to everyone’s taste – but the situation in London has reached such a critical point that we need to face up to this harsh reality if we are to have any hope of tackling the capital’s housing needs.” To send feedback, e-mail alex.peace@egi.co.uk or tweet @egalexpeace or @estatesgazette