"We support action to build more homes, making use of inner-cities and brownfield sites to build more homes. While making it easier to convert empty retail premises into flats and houses is welcome in principle, these conversions are often of lower quality with poor ventilation. They certainly haven't always been beautiful! Government must learn from its mistakes by creating a wild west of office to resi conversions. Developers must be required to meet all building and space standards; these developments must be properly inspected by a third party and buyers should receive a full structural warranty.
We already warn our readers to confront the reality before buying
such homes: very few conversions have private or shared outside space and some are located in very noisy and polluted streets, while others on business parks are sometimes miles from shops and schools. There is a risk these conversions are unsustainable and quickly become homes people don't want to live in once the newness wears off. If the government wants to truly build homes in the places people want to live, they need a strategy for building in suburban and rural areas as well as cities."
On leasehold...
"We would also implore the government to take the opportunity to make all new conversions and new build flats commonhold. This would demonstrate that government is serious about unpicking the leasehold system. The leasehold system continues to punish homeowners and is, in Michael Gove's own words, unfair and ' an outdated feudal system that needs to go'."
"We cannot forget the tens of thousands of leaseholders who find themselves in a sticky situation. Because of the
government's promises over the last few years, they are stalling on their lease extensions which are costing them more the longer they wait. Government must make leasehold a priority bill in the Kings Speech and resist the lobbying effort from freeholders and managing agents to drive down the cost of lease extensions.
On the promise to cut red tape...
"You don't have to go back very far to unearth previous attempts to reform the planning system to encourage house building. In 2020, Robert Jenrick announced reforms to protect green spaces while making it easier to build on "brownfield land". No one can argue with this, but we need to see the government deliver."
