Veteran developer and former Cabe chairman warns of 鈥渘ew ghettoes鈥� under construction and urges government to raise its game
The design quality of new housing is unlikely to improve until the nation is better able to keep up with demand for new properties, veteran developer and former Cabe chairman Sir Stuart Lipton has said.
Lipton, who is currently developing the PLP Architecture-designed 22 Bishopsgate building with partner Peter Rogers, told a Policy Exchange debate that new legislation never seemed to 鈥済et it right鈥� when it came to design quality for housing.
Speaking in the wake of Theresa May鈥檚 admission that the government needed 鈥渢o do far more to get new houses built鈥�, Lipton said a concerted effort between ministers, local authorities, and housebuilders was required.
鈥淓very piece of housing legislation since 1949 has failed, because we鈥檙e still in this chronic shortage,鈥� he said.
鈥淭o me, this is all about increasing supply. If we had a surplus of supply, we鈥檇 have quality with it 鈥� people would start competing with each other, and they don鈥檛 really do that.鈥�
Lipton, who developed London鈥檚 Broadgate Centre in the 1980s and chaired Cabe from 1999-2004, told the session on housing that he feared mistakes of the 1960s and 1970s were being repeated.
鈥淲e seem to be in a position where we鈥檙e building new ghettoes,鈥� he said.
鈥淭here are a lot of new estates tbat are remote from their society. They are about large groups 鈥� 500 flats, whatever; they don鈥檛 communicate in the way that traditional towns and cities used to communicate. The seamless flow from one project to another just isn鈥檛 there, and yet infill allows that.鈥�
Lipton lamented ministers鈥� seeming lack of interest in good quality architecture in recent years.
鈥淕ood design costs no more than the ordinary: Let鈥檚 get some government passion on this,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not [about] who is the new housing minister, it is who鈥檚 got the commitment. In the past seven years, no-one鈥檚 talked the 鈥楢鈥� word 鈥� no architecture at all.鈥�
At the event, titled 鈥淗ousing: What do we want from the new government?鈥�, Lipton accepted that ministers could not be responsible for every aspect of design and the shortfall of supply.
He also called for a radical upgrade of the planning system, with more planning officers, more power to local planning authority directors, and more certainty for developers.
鈥淚鈥檇 change the system: a red line around the site saying massing height and bulk,鈥� he said.
鈥淵ou only get your permission if your design is approved. Make sure that quality is always the denominator.鈥�
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