Only half welcome housebuilding on their doorstep, although 80% recognise urgent need
The proportion of people in the UK who would welcome more new housebuilding in their own neighbourhood has fallen from 58% to 50% over the past two years, according to a new survey.
The YouGov survey found that although more Britons than in 2007 recognise the need for increased housebuilding, far fewer would be happy to see such housing in their own localities.
This survey, commissioned by the New Homes Marketing Board (NHMB) survey, showed that 81% believe Britain needs more housing for sale and rent, especially affordable homes for first-time buyers.
This is an increase on the 78% who agreed in the previous such survey, two years ago.
But only 50% said they would welcome more homes in their own neighbourhood - down from 58% of people in the earlier survey.
“This fall is disturbing,” said NHMB chairman David Pretty. “We have a situation where more people recognise that we have a chronic national housing shortage, who apparently understand what needs to be done to help solve it - but who seem increasingly against playing their own local part in accepting more housing.
“People clearly realise we have a housing problem, but as the crisis deepens, the ’nimby’ - not-in-my-back-yard - attitude seems to be hardening. If that’s part of a new trend, it’s a very bleak finding.”
While 68% said that local communities should accept their share of responsibility for the provision of adequate and affordable new housing, only 50% agreed or strongly agreed that they would accept more housing of all types in their “immediate neighbourhood”.
Pretty said: “We have got to change that attitude or, once the economy recovers, we will have no chance of ever building the homes we desperately need.”
The survey also revealed that 69% of the UK public believe the planning system should be streamlined and speeded up to enable more and better affordable housing to be built.
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