Well the fallout from the recent Budget is still continuing.
I was chatting to a couple of movers and
shakers from the Huddersfield area the other day, when one said, “There isn’t
enough land to build all these 300,000 houses Philip Hammond wants to build
each year”.
...and if you read the Daily Mail, you would be
forgiven for thinking the Country was at bursting point ... or is it?
It was 60 years ago the first satellite was launched
(Sputnik). All the Superpowers have used them to take high definition pictures
of each other for decades, but now satellites and their high-powered cameras
are being used for more peaceful purposes. The European Environment Agency (EEA)
have been taking high definition pictures of the UK from outer-space to give us
a focused picture of
what every corner of the Country really looks like … and the findings will come
as a surprise.
As
my blog readers know, I always like to ask the important questions relating to
the Huddersfield property market. If you are a Huddersfield landlord or Huddersfield
homeowner, this knowledge will enable you to make a more considered opinion on
your direction and future in the Huddersfield property market. Like every
aspect of all economic life, it’s all about supply and demand, because over the
last twenty or so years, there has been an imbalance in the British (and Huddersfield)
housing market, with demand outstripping supply, meaning the average value of a
property in Kirklees has risen by 217.04%, taking an average value from £45,200
in 1995 to £143,300 today.
Using the information from the EEA and
data crunched by Sheffield University with their Corine-Land
Cover project, I posed them a few
questions about the local area, interesting questions I would like to share
with you …
1.
What proportion of the whole of Kirklees is built on?
22.16%
That
surprised you, didn’t it! In the study, land classified as ‘urban fabric’ defined
has land which has between 50% and 100% of the land surface is built on, (meaning up to a half might be gardens or
small parks, but the majority is built on).
2. How much land is intensively built
on locally?
Of
that amount mentioned above,
how much of it is high-density urban fabric? (i.e. where 80% to 100% is built on – still leaving 20% for gardens)
0.19% - again I bet that surprised you!
3. So how is the land used locally?
Sports
Facilities 1.73%
Industry 3.13%
Pastures 41.76%
...the
rest being made up of various other minor types such as arable farmland and
forests, etc.
Huddersfield
and the surrounding areas are greener than you think! In fact, I read that
property covers less of the UK than the land revealed when the tide goes out.
The assumption that vast bands of our local area have been concreted over
doesn't stand up to inspection. However, the effect of housing undoubtedly spreads
beyond its actual footprint, in terms of noise, pollution and roads.
Now
I am not suggesting for one second we concrete over every inch of the locality,
but the bottom line is we, as a country, are growing at a quicker rate than the
households we are building. I appreciate the emotional effect of housing is
greater than other land use types because most of us spend the vast majority of
our time surrounded by it. As Brits, we live our lives driving along roads,
walking on footpaths and working and living in buildings meaning we tend, as a
result, to considerably overemphasise how much of it there is.
The
bottom line is Huddersfield people and the local authorities are going to have
to put their weight into building more homes for people to live in. There is
going to have to be some give and take on both sides, otherwise house prices
will continue to rise exponentially in the future and Huddersfield youngster’s
won’t be able to buy their own Huddersfield home, meaning Huddersfield rents
and demand for private rented accommodation in Huddersfield can (and will) also
grow exponentially.
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