The Cala Domus at Newhall by PCKO Architects won the 2005 Building for Life Gold award.
borne from recognition that the limited supply of new homes was damaging our economy and our society. But the reality is that even at the peak of the property boom, we were building just 25,000 homes a year. There is undoubtedly a dearth
of quality and affordable housing accommodation for ordinary people. What we need is family housing in places where people want to live and where they might have a choice to live a sustainable lifestyle – you might have an ‘affordable’ development, but if it’s an hour’s drive from the towns and cities where people work, then how affordable or sustainable is that in real terms? The Scottish Government has
set local authorities a target of building 5,000 homes in the next three years. Traditionally councils have relied on the private sector to
provide affordable housing too; but with completions falling from 25,000 a year to 7-10,000 we’re seeing ever increasing demand matched by an ever-shrinking supply. This is where the public and private sectors need to work together. We need large housing sites where the public and private purses can share the infrastructure costs, and investment in social housing can give house builders the capital they need to get developments going. We need movement and confidence in our housing industry and social housing can play a big part in that. The Proposed Strategic
Development Plans that are emerging seem to reflect a view that there is an entirely healthy supply of effective land. There is after all land identified for nearly 20,000 units at Edinburgh
waterfront, a single site of several thousand units on the western edge of Glasgow and a further site identified for 4,000 units in East Lothian. You might argue that surely we
don’t require any more land – after all no one is building houses at the minute. But are we absolutely certain that these and other large sites will deliver in the short to medium term? Are we certain that they can deliver the number of units that were planned for? What price on our economy and society if they don’t? We already know that many of the 18,000 units proposed on Edinburgh’s Waterfront are now likely to be replaced by a renewables hub. Suggestions that the lack of
activity on the supply of ‘effective’ sites is purely down to the economic climate seem off the mark when many of these
Our industry THE EXPERTS...
experts provide a compelling
insight into the topical issues of the day
PETER CHLAPOWSKI DIRECTOR, PCKO ARCHITECTS
Peter is one of the founding partners of PCKO Architects. He has a wealth of experience in housing design, creating
successful residential environments both in the private and public sector. He has also been involved in a spectrum of projects in regeneration, mixed use, community, education and the health sector. Peters’ particular interests lie in energy efficient sustainable design and in 1994 he received the HENRY award from the National Energy Foundation for overall contribution to low energy design.
STEPHEN TUCKER DIRECTOR, BARTON WILLMORE
Stephen joined Barton Willmore in 2012 as Director. He heads up the company’s urban design and master planning work in
Scotland and the North of England. He also plays a leading role in the company’s growing regeneration portfolio. Previously Stephen was Partnership Manager for New Communities at Glasgow Housing Association, a role that saw him develop regeneration strategies for eight of Glasgow’s most deprived areas. Stephen was also an Advisory Board Member with Architecture & Design Scotland between 2005 and 2010.
sites have been identified since the 90’s and early noughties, but yet haven’t delivered a single house. Just because local authorities want something to happen in a certain place doesn’t mean it will and right now our planning system simply doesn’t take account of deliverability. As unpalatable as this may
sound, identifying clean, Greenfield sites, in consolidated ownerships, with existing infrastructure in place may offer one way forward. The controlled identification of ten or so highly accessible sites across Scotland, in market areas where houses will sell and funders will offer finance, will significantly benefit the development industry and the country. It will also help deliver more affordable products in places where people cannot currently afford to buy.
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