x
By using this website, you agree to our use of cookies to enhance your experience.
Graham Awards

TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

Not fake news - the truth about Britain's new homes

We’ve all heard the comments - the countryside is being covered in concrete, new houses are springing up everywhere, our green and pleasant land under permanent threat. Well, the reality is not quite what the slogans suggest.

The NHBC Foundation has now produced a guide called ’40 facts: homes, housing and house building today’ which throws the spotlight on what is really happening, rather than what opponents to new homes say is happening.

Five areas are covered in the guide, which looks at the type of homes built, who builds them and where. The contribution of housing and house building to the economy is also explored, along with how the age and condition of a home can affect the health of those living in them.

Advertisement

While many facts may be familiar to some in the agency industry, others may come as a surprise. 

For example, although having one of the highest population densities in Europe, the amount of land taken up by homes and gardens across the UK is a little over five per cent.  

That’s just 12,700 square kilometres of land used for residential development out of the total 244,000 square kilometres across the UK.

Another example - in 2016/17, 56 per cent of all new homes in England were built on previously developed ‘brownfield’ land, not non green or unbuilt sites.

Other facts include:

40% - the percentage of land in England where development is restricted;

82.8% - the percentage of the UK population defined as ‘urban dwellers’ living in either urban or suburban areas;

60,000 – number of planning approvals in 2017 for homes in both London and the South East, far exceeding approvals in other regions of the UK.

You can download the document here www.nhbcfoundation.org.

icon

Please login to comment

MovePal MovePal MovePal
sign up