Michael Gove has argued that opposition to new housing developments may be reduced if there was a greater emphasis on the “heart and soul” of places.
The secretary for leveling up, housing, and communities stated that an excessive number of planning applications were “indifferent” or “vapid.”
Mr. Gove made the remarks in the introduction to a paper published by the center-right think tank Policy Exchange.
He supports their request for a new architecture and urban design school.
The government intends to construct 300,000 additional dwellings by the middle of the next decade.
However, Mr. Gove earlier stated that the promise would be “tough” to fulfill in the coming year due to the economic downturn and growing prices.
Lisa Nandy, Labour’s shadow housing minister, stated, “Thousands of families whose aspirations of home ownership evaporated when the Conservatives destroyed the economy require a credible strategy to build more homes.”
Mr. Gove argued in the study of the think tank that the potential of some public places was being wasted due to inadequate design and maintenance.
Places must be at the center of leveling up, but if they lack heart and spirit, leveling up will falter as well,” he stated.
“Much of the opposition to new housing developments is frequently based on the idea that the quality of the new structures and locations developed would be substandard and, as a result, detrimental to existing neighborhoods and properties.
If a general improvement in design quality reassures the public that this will not be the case, they may be less likely to oppose the initiative.
Mr. Gove conceded, though, that there is “no silver bullet” for the housing situation.
The Policy Exchange report urges the government to support a new “School of Place,” stating that if there was a “typically greater quality of architecture and placemaking,” this would help mitigate a significant portion of aesthetic opposition to additional housing.
There would be architects, planners, designers, engineers, and consultants at the school.
As a result of the prospect of a mutiny by certain Conservative MPs, the administration scaled back its housing goals for local councils earlier this month.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had been attempting to implement binding housing targets, but the government now states, “Housing targets remain, but are a starting point with new flexibility to suit local conditions.”
