Missing the X-factor

I’m chair of Building for Life and about three years ago we did a survey of new housing in Britain. We spoke to housing professionals, planners and – most importantly – the people who lived in newly built homes.

It emerged that 80 per cent of new housing was classed as poor or mediocre, and 29 per cent shouldn’t have got planning permission at all. How house-builders have gone about their job has run counter to what they should have done to build great developments.

In the past couple of years, I’ve been involved in the eco-towns judging panel. Government brochures have included brilliant examples of European housing developments such as Freiberg in Germany and Hammarby Sjöstad in Sweden. They are exciting, but we are a long way from having similar examples here.