- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: audacity (20 Sep 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0955383005
- ISBN-13: 978-0955383007
- Product Dimensions: 24 x 17 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,368,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Book Description
You have been told that the housing market is booming. So why
are there no houses that you can afford being built?
You want to know why house prices have spiralled out of control. House
building is lower than it has been since the Second World War, and there
are not enough homes being built to meet the demand.
You have been told that developers want to concrete over the countryside.
It is not true. No more than one tenth of Britain is developed.
Far from being in short supply, land is going to waste, because the law
stops it from being developed
This book explains why Britain stopped building homes for its citizens to
live in. For too long government policy has been in the grip of officials
who want to stop new building.
Let's Build! explains whay all of the reasons for not building new homes -
the scare stories about the environment, about suburbia, about social
cohesion - are just excuses.
are there no houses that you can afford being built?
You want to know why house prices have spiralled out of control. House
building is lower than it has been since the Second World War, and there
are not enough homes being built to meet the demand.
You have been told that developers want to concrete over the countryside.
It is not true. No more than one tenth of Britain is developed.
Far from being in short supply, land is going to waste, because the law
stops it from being developed
This book explains why Britain stopped building homes for its citizens to
live in. For too long government policy has been in the grip of officials
who want to stop new building.
Let's Build! explains whay all of the reasons for not building new homes -
the scare stories about the environment, about suburbia, about social
cohesion - are just excuses.
From the Publisher
audacity organises authoritative international research, large
conferences on pressing development issues, has a provocative website -
audacity.org - and publishes a dynamic school of writers, public
speakers and photographers. Let's Build! is the first in a new series of
publications
conferences on pressing development issues, has a provocative website -
audacity.org - and publishes a dynamic school of writers, public
speakers and photographers. Let's Build! is the first in a new series of
publications
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Let's Build - why you can't afford a house,
By Jessie Henderson "lordsnooty" (London UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Let's Build!: Why We Need Five Million New Homes in the Next 10 Years (Paperback)
If you've ever wondered about crazy house-price inflation or why reasonably paid workers can't afford houses in the area, town or country, where they live and work,read Let's Build (it's also very readable and entertaining!) James Heartfield goes through all the reasons why we aren't building enough houses for people to live in, which, of course, also means rocketing prices. There's the planning regulations which are 30, if not 50 years old. There's the green-and-pleasant-land ideas of the planners, the architects and builders on government quangos and the civil servants and members of government also - many enjoy the Georgian- house- in- the- town- and- country- cottage lifestyle themselves. There's the old Town Bad, Country Good idea, even though towns are where 80% of us live. What do we need? 50 million homes in the next ten years,Heartfield says. And says how it can be done, but first reason has to prevail among government officials, planners and architects. James Heartfield has stood up and said 'The Emperor has no clothes.' A good read for anybody and even more if you're struggling to buy in a booming market that always overtakes you, like in some bad dream where you can't quite catch the train - and perhaps if you're sitting in your house, wondering why you're getting rich on paper but wondering where your children are going to live.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Let's Build!,
By
This review is from: Let's Build!: Why We Need Five Million New Homes in the Next 10 Years (Paperback)
Quite a protracted read with lots of historical "titbits".I think the veil is well and truely pulled aside on this absurd and damaging statute; "The Town and Country Planning Act 1947". The guy (James Heartfield) certainly uses the biggest demolition ball he can to refute the so called "purpose" of this, quite frankly, mad legislation.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A bit misguided...,
By NH (london) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Let's Build!: Why We Need Five Million New Homes in the Next 10 Years (Paperback)
... But thought provoking nonetheless. James Heartfield believes that the solution to the housing crisis in the UK is to be found in the construction of 5 million plus new homes, at ten to the hectare, over the greenbelt in the south east and doing away with the the planning laws (as we know them), in the process. In making such an argument his is an unusual voice - reflecting a hotchpotch of political opinions, a mixture of thatcherite libertarianism and social democratic optimism.It is a very readable book, it's argument is sometimes difficult to follow but it does fit together. His main criticism is an attack on the governments policy of restricting the development of greenfield land, in favour of land that is essentially being reused: 'brownfield' sites in planning terms. What he believes this has led to is inner city areas being regenerated at great expense with dubious social consequences - tiny flats, high house prices and cramped urban conditions. He argues that this situation has come about due to an irrational committment to the seperation of 'town' and 'country', the product of a nation dwelling in the past and not looking to the future, and the direction of architects, planners and politicians that people should live on top of each other and take public transport everywhere - political beliefs dressed up in the language of sustainable development and environmentalism that are extremely profitable if you are in the loop. So far, so good. The problem is that, whilst his radical alternative vision is welcome, it strikes me that it would never work on a practical level. If you were to deregulate on the extent that he advocates you would probably end up with a situation not dissimilar to that currently faced in Ireland and the USA - thousands of empty homes built on green fields, landscape changed forever, collapse in property values, redundancies in the construction industry. The environmental costs are even more severe: no infrastructure to go with development, which makes everyday living carbon - intensive and expensive. Not good in a world of swiftly depleting natural resources - but this reality is one that Heartfield is apparently unconcerned about. He does go some way to pre-empt such criticisms, wheeling out the familliar argument that the government should foot the costs of infrastructure and not property developers, but he hasn't fully considered the costs of such an arrangement. Overall it is good to have a radical voice in this debate. Heartfield speaks uncomfortable truths about the planning system. However, the argument he makes is incomplete and there are too many shortcomings for this book to really be taken seriously by policymakers.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
