UK housing has suffered greatly from its politicians’ fixation with a single form of home and tenure, the mortgage-backed and privately-owned home. But it is clear that, even if it was desirable to only have this orthodox model (which it is not), not everyone is going to get a mortgage; and it is also clear that the ideological pursuit of this helped poison, and nearly bring down, the world economy, as well as being a key contributor to our current housing crisis.
While Scotland has shown some appetite for broadening our housing horizons it needs to set out a clear agenda for achieving a diverse and sustainable market, that suits all incomes and interests while providing the shelter that is a fundamental right for all, and this brief paper suggests the three overarching principles we should consider, and key areas of change which, taken together, would deliver them.
Publication / Common Weal, Common Space
Policy document for the Common Weal Think-and-do Tank, as published on their Common Space site, arising from Malcolm Fraser’s award-winning homes and placemaking for clients from individuals to Housing Associations, Councils and volume housebuilders. These included the first volume housebuilder developments to have won major awards, and Council Housing work at Leith Fort for the City of Edinburgh Council and Port of Leith Housing Association, reinventing the traditional Edinburgh “Colonies” form – dense, social, town-centre family homes.
Malcolm sits on the Government’s Joint Housing Supply and Delivery Group and contributes to current Land and Planning Reform initiatives.
Download
Housekeeping Scotland: A Discussion Paper outlining a New Agenda for Housing (full paper .pdf)
Further Reading
A programme for housing renewal, Malcolm Fraser, CommonSpace
