Chichester's Housing crisis
By cynth_hunt | Monday, October 25, 2010, 11:24
I was just reading about the proposed 250 house developments in Chichester at Graylingwell and Roussillion barracks and the 100 homes planned for Winden Avenue encountering planning objections from locals on the grounds of public transport provision and design issues. The proposals for the barracks include a three storey structure that one objector has described as "totally out of keeping with the character of the area".
It's pretty clear that we have a housing shortage in this country and that something has to be done about it so is it just that local Chichester people are just being Nimby's about all this or are these developments really not suitable for our beautiful city ? At a time when considerable strain is already being put on public resources, is it too much to ask for extra provisions to be built in to these schemes that account for the increase in population for Chichester ?
Comments
I think the problems with empty homes is one of law. Generally speaking they are either repossessions or people who have died without a will - so to challenge the real estate legal system and probate costs the council more money than it probably does to shove up a block of flats or a small housing estate. The law, I believe, now states that a proportion of all new housing must either offer an "affordable housing scheme" - or offer some housing association co-development. Which once again lowers the council's investment.
Unless real estate lawyers suddenly get a conscience - or the law in this country becomes less antiquated than those laid out in the flipping Magna Carta, then I don't have a solution.
By PaulaWoodwark at 09:49 on 10/11/10
ReportIt seems ridiculous to build new homes when there is so much stock sitting around doing nothing even in a small city like Chichester. Just goes to show you how the governments housing policy is dictated by developers rather than need.
By cynth_hunt at 11:04 on 09/11/10
Report1500 empty homes? That really is quite a shocking figure! I didn't realise that there were so many. I agree that these should be utilised before planning more houses.
By jessiebeanie at 22:00 on 04/11/10
ReportThe last survey, carried out in 2009, states that Chichester alone has around 1500 empty homes sat around doing nothing. Why don't the council do something with those instead of building more???
http://tinyurl.com/35tnmle
By ZaraMac at 00:16 on 04/11/10
ReportI think there are always rejections to new housing from people, in some form or another. People generally don't like change and are more concerned about over crowding etc and drains on resources. House need to be built though and will continue to go up unless there are very strong reasons for objections.
By vw_sarah at 17:57 on 31/10/10
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