Afternoon:
11°c
Who can solve London's housing crisis?
10.10.07
London Influentials Debate 2007. Tuesday 16 October at Royal Society of Arts, WC2.
The Evening Standard is running a series of London Influentials Debates. The first is in association with the Architecture Foundation and YouGov and will try to find a solution for the housing crisis.
The debate will be on Tuesday 16 October at the Royal Society of Arts, 8 John Adam Street, London WC2 and will start with drinks 6.30pm, followed by the debate from 7pm until 8pm.
Guest speakers include the Minister for Housing Yvette Cooper MP, leading architect Sir Terry Farrell, property developer Nigel Hugill, Director of the Architecture Foundation Rowan Moore, Director of Business Planning and Regeneration GLA Neale Coleman and former mayoral candidate Steve Norris. Columnist Jonathan Freedland will be in the chair.
Please click here to reserve a ticket for you and a guest.
The event is free but tickets are limited. Priority will be given to Eros Card holders. If you are not already a card holder you can register for free at the same time.
Tickets will be reserved on a first-come first-served basis and if successfull you will be notified by email and your name will be on the guest list when you arrive.
Reader views (4)
There's lots that can be done without churning up the green belt.
First, take a look at all those railway lines out of London. Look at all those stations - so many are on the edge of towns and villages, so why not build around those stations (say, in a 500m radius).
Next, what about moving many of those industrial estates (some, but not all) that are situated in towns next to the motorway network, where no one would want to live. Use the land freed up for new housing.
Third, what about 'road lining'? That is to say, lining existing roads (most of which will be outside London, admittedly) with housing. That will be partly green belt, but will only nibble at the very edges of fields.
The key is to build without destroying the countryside of the South East, surely? The last thing we need is monstrous new lifeless estates of ugly-looking homes bereft of amenities - develop with a light, intelligent touch, not the clunking fist.
- Eric Murphy, London, UK
We need better transport and that will assist housing pressures. If we had high speed train services like Europe or Japan, you could get from Birmingham to London in 20 minutes. How many of us sit on a ricketty tube train that uses 1930's technology for more than 20 minutes to get to work? House prices can be 100% cheaper outside the M25 we just need get in and out of the city quicker and easier.
Also, I have to agree about lifetime tenancies for social housing - outdated and needless. 5 or 10 year tenancies followed by a review to rehouse into a more suitable property would be a huge efficincy saving. Private sector has 6 month tenancies, surely social tenants can cope with the change associated with 5 or 10 years?
- Mark, UK
If you occupy social housing in London, you're fit and able and you've been unemployed for more than 2 years, then you should be shipped off to another part of the country where social housing is more plentiful (e.g. to Wales).
Your flat or house could then be given to someone who's prepared to work for a living.
- Jl, London, UK
If more London councils were like Wandsworth and had a "Hidden Homes" policy of converting unused estate garages, pram shelters, and laundry drying areas to housing, it would go a long way to a solution.
- Richard Tracey, London, England
