If you support a streamlined planning, ask yourself the following: What if someone has built a new home on your roof? | Kirsty Major

THough Wanstead is a quiet suburb in East London, which is located on the edge of the leaf forest. Things were not so peaceful for the residents of the Harley Court. A two -story expansion that contains 12 new units is built on your flat block. It is a story that reveals one of the many challenges of our real estate market. There will be some disorders in search of apartment destinations, but how much is too much for existing residents and communities?

In autumn 2022, James moved into the pale-marked post-war building. It was his first time that he lived alone. He loved the open living room and had a room to make his own. Around this time, his health started to falter, and cancer was diagnosed in the new year. He increasingly spent more time to recover from chemotherapy treatments that made him tired.

Soon construction work on the new soils began. His sister Naomi, who moved in to him to help with his care, told me: “The noise felt exactly as the drill of a dentist feels in her head.” The windows remained closed to minimize the sound and dust from the building. Naomi is now wondering whether they are right to stay, but at the time it felt like the best option. Her brother didn’t want to be uprooted and it was not certain whether he would be able to secure another tenancy. “We tried to look at new properties, but we couldn’t move quickly enough. And then his health deteriorated quickly in the end. We didn’t move, but these last months were very tried. “After his death, Naomi pulled out of the apartment.

As early as 2020, the then conservative Minister of Housing, Robert Jenrick, hired a guideline This would make extensions such as that on the Harley Court to adopt the planning processes of the council members. The owners had the so -called “permissible development rights” to increase the number of houses and to give the sluggish, Kovidian economy a thrust.

On the surface, these “piggyback houses” (an earlier name for such developments) seem to be a simple solution for the “real estate crisis”. The London district of Redbridge, the Wanstead covers, Forecasts growth of 16% In the next 22 years and according to national destinations, 1,409 new houses per year deliver. Last year a Only 224 houses were built. To achieve these goals, a Council officer wrote This building permit is only refused “if the damage is significant and the advantage of providing additional apartments”.

In practice, however, it is at the expense of existing residents. In 2021, Blue Gower Ltd bought the country on which Harley Court was standing, and when FreeHolder received the right to develop the lot. Those who had the apartments in the property as a tenant had the opportunity to increase objections to the newcomers as part of the planning process. Among other things, they stated that it would affect their well -being, cause noise pollution and damage the quality of the air. Redbridge said that such concerns would be passed on to the developer and the conditions for reducing risks. The district that illuminates the application green. (Later, the council approved the construction of another five houses on the premises on which the garages of the apartment are currently standing.) The developers made themselves available to the residents to deal with problems when they appeared and limited loud work on a few hours a day, but admitted that life with construction work would never be a pleasant experience.

As things stand, Labor has no plans to remove permitted development rights. In fact, the government has set new apartment goals, hopes to further reduce the planning regulations to meet them Take over local councils If you don’t play a ball. In the coming years, when the authorities are working towards these goals across the country, there will be more buildings, more disorders, more custody houses and more Harley dishes.

Proponents of the guideline will say that this is a temporary disorder that pays off in the long run and can reach residents like Redbridge their residential goals. However, numerical goals are only part of an answer: the residents not only need houses, they also need affordable houses. In 2024 the The average price of a house in Redbridge was £ 495,000. As soon as additional taxes and fees are taken into account, these costs are approximately 11 times the average London salary. Developers are business people, not charity employees. They build units that achieve the highest profit – and have no incentive to sell units at a lower price than the price rate. It may seem contrary, but the structure of more living space does not bring prices. The apartments in Wanstead are now on the market and look pretty and are even delivered with solar collectors and heating under the floor. But they are anything but affordable – one is Price for £ 585,000.

The councils play a role here. During the approval of developments, you can negotiate conditions, such as Even if agreements on new construction companies, the planning departments of the Council, which were among the toughest of austerity measures, were heard Reasons of about 50% – – It is unlikely that you can make sure you are honored. In the case of Harley Court, the developers contributed what is known as Section 106 Payment go to the local community and infrastructure.

This is not a problem of nimbies and yimbys – this is a reductive dichotomy. What we have are communities that need affordable living space, residents who want to enjoy the houses they have in peace, and business people who want to make profit. The councils should be those who decide between these interests and find the best possible results. The government apparently has other plans for them.